


Scattered Sunbeams

by fakeivy



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Assisted Suicide, Ballet, Child Murder, Comedy, Death, Drama, Drowning, Dusteater, Families of Choice, Fluff, Horror, Hurt/Comfort, Insomnia, Interspecies Relationship(s), Multi, Murder, Nightmares, Puns & Word Play, Romance, Soul Sex, Suicide, Terror Tactics, Terrorism, Torture, pop culture references
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-12
Updated: 2018-07-06
Packaged: 2018-08-08 07:13:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 23,575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7748158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fakeivy/pseuds/fakeivy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A look into what might happen in various alternate universes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. To Share An Article - A01

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Rehlia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rehlia/gifts).
  * Inspired by [These are our Days](https://archiveofourown.org/works/7244671) by [Rehlia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rehlia/pseuds/Rehlia). 



> So, yeah, there sure are a lot of options on this site, huh?
> 
> I'm trying to figure out what everything does, so bear with me as I will probably edit a lot.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A nice bit of fluff as you, Dolores, and Frisk get to know one another.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So hey hello. If you've somehow found your way here and haven't read trashcandisaster's [These are our Days](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7244671/chapters/16447825), this will be pretty confusing for you. I'd really recommend reading that first, since it's amazing and this fic will constantly reference it, since each chapter of this will focus on events that could happen in alternate universes of that.

It's just you, Dolores, and Frisk in the house. As the setting sun shines through the window, Frisk bounds over to Dolores with a grin.

"Wow! Lawyers are so cool! How come you never mentioned all the detective work you do?" Frisk asked enthusiastically.

Dolores deadpanned.

"What."

Frisk showed their device to her; the screen had 'Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney' emblazoned across it, with a silhouette pointing dramatically into the distance.

Dolores blinked.

"It's awesome how Phoenix always finds the true killer with the help of his friends! He finds evidence at the crime scene and finds out which witnesses are lying and even defends himself when he's accused of murder!" Frisk stared up at her with wide eyes. "Have you ever had to defend yourself in court?"

"No, that-that's not even remotely how..." Dolores trails off, flustered, before she calls to you with a strained voice. You look up from your work and catch her giving you a helpless look. Hiding your smile, you call Frisk over. They lean into your side as you pull up an article you read on Kotaku awhile ago.

"Here. This goes into some detail on the differences between how courts work in real life versus in that game."

Looking at Dolores, you beckoned her over.

"You might be interested in this as well, since there's some information about the similarities and differences between the American and Japanese court systems."

The three of you read together, discussing plot points in the game. Dolores diffidently points out how the situation would actually play out in a real court and slowly starts to relax when Frisk merely listens with a concentrated expression on their face.

It was nice.

Frisk yawns, reminding you of the time. Gently, you nudge them towards their room. They pout, eyes half-closed, before moving sleepily. Just before they move out of sight, they stop, peer around the corner, and call out hesitantly.

"Miss Ortega? You can defend us, right? Like Phoenix? Even against my-" they trail off, frowning sadly, eyes darkening with memories.

Dolores' expression shifts through multiple emotions before hardening as she nods sharply once.

Frisk's smile made the room seem brighter, as if the sun hadn't set at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my first fic on here, and this is me giving writing another try after getting kinda crushed by the response to my first try years ago. I'm nervous, but let me know what you think?


	2. To Court A Queen - B01

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wherein Frisk comes up with A Plan, and you and Toriel react to it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's always the possibility that all the events of these chapters happen in one universe, since everything is possible in an infinite number of universes...but I write them thinking of them as separate, since it helps me focus more.

It started with a joke at the dinner table.

“Toriel, marry me,” you said, closing your eyes in bliss, only to open them curiously when the room went silent. All the monsters were staring at you. You straightened in your seat.

“What's wrong?” you asked worriedly, only to flinch at the squeal Alphys screamed out.

“Ohmigodthat'ssocuteIhadnoideaIshipit!”

Once you deciphered that, you blushed, waving your hands in front of you in protest.

“Oh, no no, that's not what I meant. Sorry, that's an expression to compliment someone, albeit jokingly. Though I was serious about the compliment; your cooking is truly wonderful. Any partner of yours would cherish you,” you explained sincerely.

You didn't foresee the reactions to your statement. Toriel blushed as she stiffened in her chair, while Asgore flinched and seemed to shrink slightly. Yet another clue that pointed towards Toriel and Asgore's turbulent history.

“Thank you, child,” Toriel said, accepting your compliment with all her grace and poise. “Though I must admit to some surprise that bonding has become something to joke about. Monsters take it very seriously.”

You bowed your head in apology. You'd try to be more aware.

\---

Later that night, you're lying in bed, thinking of Toriel and Asgore, when you hear your bedroom door open and close, before a body was wiggling its way under your covers.

“Frisk?” you whisper. Their head pops out of the blanket, leaving you facing each other across your pillow. Something about the way the moonlight hits their face makes them seem much older.

“I have a request; will you listen to it?”

Staring into serious eyes, you nodded.

And promptly lost it when Frisk said:

“Date my mom.”

“What!?”

\---

They had gotten the idea, they explained, from your comment at dinner.

“Eventually, someone will notice that mom is the one who takes care of me, when on paper, you're my guardian. People will ask questions. But if you're dating my mom, it will change how people see us.”

“But why do you think this is even necessary in the first place? You don't think my role as your guardian is enough to deter people?”

“Maybe if you were in a similar situation as my grandmother. But I'm an ambassador, and a child; the world has its eyes on me.”

That was true. Even so...

“Don't you want Toriel to adopt you? This will make it much harder, if not impossible for her to do so.”

“Yes. But it'll be too late if we wait for her to be considered a citizen. This situation needs to be taken care of now.”

You were silent as you thought.

“IF we go through with this, I won't lie to her. She deserves more than that.”

Frisk nodded.

“Lies are bad. They just hurt the people you love.”

Gently, you tucked their hair behind their ear.

“And yet, sometimes you need to lie in order to protect them, huh?”

Frisk looks away from you. You tap them on the nose.

“None of that. You knew what you were doing; don't doubt yourself now. Deal with the consequences with your head held high. Now, go to sleep. We'll speak with Toriel tomorrow.”

With a shy smile of assent, they snuggled into your side.

As you slowly fell asleep, you could only think wryly that you were glad Dolores was such a heavy sleeper.

\---

The next morning, the both of you woke up early. Quietly sneaking out of the room, you made your way to the bathroom and then the kitchen. Taking a look at what was available, you turned to Frisk.

“Do you think everyone would like pancakes? We even have enough ingredients to make different kinds.”

You were a bit worried when Frisk just stared at you with wide eyes, but before you could say anything, they nodded their head vigorously.

“They'll love them!”

They fidgeted.

“...can I help?”

You didn't see any reason why not; you yourself had cooked with your mother when you were Frisk's age.

The silence was comfortable as you stirred pancake batter together.

“I used to makes pancakes with my grandmother,” Frisk said abruptly.

You could see the tension in their body.

“Was it fun?” you asked gently.

Their body slumped as their stirring slowly stopped.

“Yeah. But it hurts, 'cause I can't anymore,” they choked out.

You could tell they still grieved for her. The recent situation with Sarah probably hadn't helped either.

You moved to hug them.

With their face hidden against your side, tiny hands gripping your clothes, you realized that while you still had no idea how to be a guardian, you did know one thing.

You wanted Frisk to be happy.

\---

In a somewhat foreboding echo to your talk with Asgore, you asked to talk to Toriel privately after breakfast.

Toriel and Frisk's room was about as cramped as yours and Dolores', what with the two beds, the drawer with a potted cactus on it between them, the desk in the corner, and the chest at the foot of Frisk's bed. Considering Toriel's calm blue blanket and Frisk's bright red one, you couldn't help but feel that the walls should be painted a pale lilac to complement them.

When Toriel trained her eyes on you, you motioned for Frisk to explain, both because it was their idea and because you were cautious of causing Toriel to react like she had before.

Toriel's rage had been scary.

For all the experience you had gained in reading monsters' expressions, it wasn't helping you now, as Toriel listened to Frisk's idea.

It wasn't helping your nerves, but it also didn't surprise you. She was a Queen. To negotiate with a good poker face was probably something she had learned over the years. 

“And what are your thoughts on this?” Toriel asks you after a long silence.

“I'm willing to try. But only if you're truly comfortable with it. Because I won't pretend to date you; if we do this, I will make our relationship as real as possible.”

Toriel's eyes narrowed.

“In what manner?”

You finally realize what Toriel was really asking you. She wanted to see your resolve.

And a Queen deserved respect.

Gracefully you padded forward to bow over Toriel's hand, slanting your eyes up at her.

“Toriel, would you do me the honor of accepting my courtship?”

All held still.

Toriel smiled wryly as she curtsied in return, respect in her eyes.

“Yes. I accept.”

The tense feeling in the air dissipated.

“Though I cannot imagine my fellow monsters will take this well. I am much too old for you,” she said, covering her eyes.

There was nothing you could say to that.

After all, what were your mere handful of decades when compared with Toriel's thousands?

Toriel sighed.

“And you realize what will happen? The humans will not take this lightly.”

You nodded. You were intimately aware of the slurs that would be hurled your way. It saddened you, that some people hated others simply because they were different.

The nail that sticks out will be hammered down.

Even still, you were determined.

For Frisk.

For Toriel.

For the monsters.

For yourself.

\---

You were lucky.

By the time Frisk's guardianship came into question once more, your relationship with Toriel was already well-established.

It helped that the president wished to keep the sensitive matter under wraps, and gave his diplomat leave to be delicate and circumspect.

Standing outside the door to the meeting room, you could feel your heart racing.

You were nervous; what if something went wrong? 

You were jolted out of your panicked thoughts by two hands grabbing onto yours. Looking into Frisk and Toriel's eyes, you slowly calmed down. You would do this together.

\---

You nodded with a smile at the question.

“I'm courting her. She's been absolutely wonderful with Frisk. Along with her strength of character and her beauty, I couldn't help but farfalle for her.”

“Dear, no matter how much you compliment me, I'm afraid I just cantaloupe with you.”

“You wound me so; must you be so cherry?”

“Would you have me go against my currant nature?”

“Never. But is it too much to hope that the situation will work out in my flavor?”

“Now you're just milking it.”

Toriel and you couldn't resist anymore at that point and burst into laughter, Frisk's giggles a sweet counterpoint.

\---

After the meeting, you noticed the diplomat talking with Sans. Walking towards them, you caught the tail-end of their conversation.

“yeah, i've bean watching them dance around each other for awhile now. it's about thyme they dished up some courage. 's gouda them.”

You stopped. Either that was one hell of a coincidence...

Sans noticed you and winked your way.

...or he had been listening in to the meeting.

Which on one hand was good, since the more allies they had, the more secure they would be.

But on the other; if he had listened in, who else had?

\---

Time passed, filled with laughter and tears, rage and fear.

And as for the tale of the relationship that developed between you, Sans, and Toriel, and how you all came to live together with Frisk--that was a story for another time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't resist putting in the Hamilton reference.
> 
> Trashcandisaster's enthusiastic response to this chapter has given me more ideas to flesh out this specific universe a bit more. It'll be awhile, since I want to see the dynamic between Reader and Sans in their fic first, but look forward to that.
> 
> Next chapter will contain angst and a lot of dark themes.


	3. To Search For Hope - C01

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things go wrong in many different ways, in many different universes.

_Reality has fractured, and misery bleeds through the cracks._

\---

Our deception was discovered.

The people cried out and the president answered.

So they thought.

A group of soldiers came to take you, Dolores, and Frisk into custody.

By the time a _second_ group arrived, and the subterfuge was brought to light, it was too late.

They never found out what happened to you.

\---

“Sans. I want you to search for them,” Asgore murmured, barely audible above the roar of the waterfall.

“They all chose to protect us; we can do no less than to respond in kind.”

\---

They were a group of like-minded individuals, hidden within the country's infrastructure.

The emergence of monsters merely caused them to focus their hate.

Attacks escalated, and Ebott became a prison, a cage.

A grave.

\---

Staring at your broken body, Sans felt no surprise; just a soul-deep weariness that seeped into his bones. He slumped, listlessly stuffing his hands into his pockets.

“i would have liked to get to know you more.”

His faint hope that you would answer died as the silence carried on.

It had been a vain hope; that time would rewind, that he could have a second chance.

That time was not a one-way corridor.

Sans knew there was no point in wishing, though.

Wishes don't come true.

Carefully cradling you, he teleported.

Time to break the news to the King.

\---

“November, this is Victor, do you read me?”

“Victor, this is November, I read you loud and clear. Status?”

“Target is in position.”

“Mission is a go. I repeat, mission is a go.”

“Roger.”

Victor grinned viciously as fire bloomed over the monster settlement.

\---

Sans stopped.

On your hand, black as pitch, was a tattoo--

\--if a tattoo could be made of magic, much less void magic.

' **TRAP** '

Taking out one of Alphys' new devices, he scanned your body, before his eyes winked out.

“a bomb, huh? these guys **s u r e a r e s o m e t h i n g**.”

Sans lingered just a moment longer before he teleported away.

“clever girl.”

\---

Monsters had been going missing recently.

With tensions rising, Asgore and Toriel were busier than ever.

After your disappearance, Papyrus had taken over your job...with a liberal amount of help from Alphys and Sans.

It hurt to see how sad all the hateful messages made him, but he just smiled and said that he would see it through until you, Dolores, and Frisk returned.

“OH! SANS! LOOK! I GOT A PICTURE OF A HAPPY HUMAN! THIS IS MUCH BETTER THAN THE LAST TEN!”

“that's cool, bro. looks like your exposure plan is really panning out.”

“SANS!”

Sans glanced at the picture as Papyrus fumed. The caption for the picture said “Hunting Success!” and showed a grinning man holding up a peace sign.

He didn't see anything wrong until he realized.

That wasn't dirt spread across his face and in-between his teeth.

It was dust.

\---

It was their first winter on the surface.

It was supposed to be a time of happiness.

Their celebration was interrupted by what he first thought was rain--

\--until the metallic smell hit him.

Chunks of meat hit the ground in a torrent.

The horrified silence was torn to shreds by Toriel's anguished scream, and with a sharp screech, she turned to dust.

The force of her dusting caused what she had been holding to fly over his way before rolling to a stop at his feet. He couldn't prevent himself from looking down.

Frisk stared sightlessly back.

With a slow breath, he stepped away from their severed head.

\---

The monsters desperately needed support after the death of their Queen.

Despite that, they couldn't help but be cautious of Sarah.

“why are you helping us? you blame us.”

“I do. And in time I will make you all pay for it. But for now, I will use you to hunt those that actively killed Frisk.

“They will pay for killing what is mine.”

\---

With her help, they started to get somewhere.

But the damage had already been done.

The remaining monsters were slowly whittled away, until just one remained.

Sans.

\---

They surrounded him in a forest.

He could have continued running, but he didn't see the point.

He was tired.

“come on, guys. not all at once. you're making me blush.”

With a cold look, November ordered everyone to attack.

Sans shrugged, grinning.

“tough crowd. welp. don't say **i d i d n ' t w a r n y o u**.”

The clearing flickered in the blaze of his magic as screams filled the air.

A sharp pain tore through him.

He stumbled, looked down.

There was a hole in his hoodie.

Clutching his wound, he threw his head back and laughed as he turned to dust and faded away in the wind.

The story goes that if you visit that clearing, you can still hear his laughter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is more fragmented than usual; I wanted to give a sense that these universes were on the Worst Ending Route, and along the way there were Bad Endings that split off from the main route.


	4. Queen, Jester, Herald - B02.1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Continuing after the events of Chapter 2, things develop between you, Sans, and Toriel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to those of you who leave comments and kudos. It means a lot to me to know people like my writing.
> 
> And special thanks to Trashcandisaster for allowing me to continue to play in your world. You're the best. <3

A herald, a jester, and a queen  
dance together on Time's floor;  
To protect the peace from foe's unseen--  
those who take and ask for more.

\---

It was Asgore who saw it first.

“Protect her, won't you?” 

You followed his gaze to see Toriel chatting with some of the more neutral people that had come to this political event, probably in the hopes of swaying them to the monsters' side.

It looked like she was succeeding, from what you could tell, by the nods and smiles some of them were giving her.

You admired her.

Turning back to Asgore, you smiled reassuringly.

“I'll protect her and she'll protect me, and both of us will protect Frisk. It's what we agreed to do.”

The wistful, sad look in his eyes shifted to something a little more knowing, a little more wry.

“Yes, but I believe your feelings run deeper than just the surface of your agreement. You betray yourself when you gaze upon her.”

Surprised, you stared at him, before glancing back at Toriel.

Toriel, who was radiant tonight in a beautiful dress.

Toriel, who commanded admiring attention from those surrounding her.

Toriel, who noticed your stare and smiled at you softly.

 _Oh_ , you thought.

You tried to hide your blush behind your champagne glass, but judging from Asgore's faint grin, you weren't very successful.

\---

Ebott had become filled to capacity.

It was going to happen sometime; you weren't even surprised that it had happened this soon. All you could think about were the monsters who were still underground even now.

You were going lay out the solution you'd come up with.

Perhaps it wasn't your place to suggest this. No matter how much of an ally you were, you were still human, and therefore not a part of their species.

But you'd rather they shoot down your idea than they not know it was an option in the first place.

You brought it up after breakfast, while everyone was still gathered together.

“Has anyone else been keeping track of Ebott's population?”

Asgore looked at you with curiosity.

“Of course.”

“Then you know Ebott's full to bursting.”

Asgore sighed, leaning back in his chair.

“Yes. We have been trying to buy the land surrounding Ebott with the help of the military, but it's been slow going.”

You shook your head.

“I wouldn't really advise trying to permanently annex part of this country; not only would we be surrounded on all sides, but we'd become more indebted to them. And I hate to say it, but this country doesn't really have the best track record when it comes to minorities.”

“Then what _would_ you advise?”

You took a breath.

“Make an island.”

There was a cacophonous explosion of sound. Papyrus, Frisk, and Undyne seemed all for it, shouting questions. Sans eyes flickered, before he lazily propped his head up with his hand to stare at you. Asgore and Toriel seemed surprised, startled even, though they handled it with decorum. 

Alphys, though, had started to vibrate in excitement.

“BRB!” she shouted, running upstairs.

“Hush, everyone, and let her explain,” Toriel commanded. You relaxed at her calm. With a smile of thanks, you continued.

“Monster technology is incredible, easily outstripping human technology by decades. Everything that Sans, Alphys, and Mettaton have shown me has only cemented this. I believe this is something we could easily do. It would solve our space problem. Even better, we wouldn't be beholden to anyone.”

“And you think the president will just let us do this?” Asgore asked with a frown.

“I'd lay good odds that you could negotiate for this, yes. This is the beginning of the president's term, so he's incredibly busy. Having one less immediate worry would probably be a blessing.”

“But what would this even mean for us?” Toriel interjected.

“You would become a country in your own right, with everything that means.”

“Back! Here!” Alphys interrupted excitedly as she hurriedly spread out a blueprint design.

“I made this ages ago! Never thought I'd get a chance to use it! See, this island has interlocking parts, so it's really easy to add onto or subtract from! That's for space, but also in case of an attack, so you can split apart if you need to! It can float on water. BUT! It can also fly! And I already built in all the weather modifications for everyone! And there's a shield! And a stealth mode! And, oh!”

Alphys started scribbling something down as she continued to gush.

“I'm sure other countries will love a moving island, that they can't detect, roaming about in international waters, and suddenly crossing peoples' flight paths,” Dolores snarked quietly.

“You know that human technology wouldn't be able to detect it; at least not right now. The magic inherent in it is just too much for mere electricity,” you refuted just as quietly.

“Hah! Fine, yeah, you're right. I can't believe I'm jumping on-board with this crazy plan of yours.”

“If celebrities can buy islands, I didn't see any reason stopping us from making our own.”

“Yeah. I'll just hope it doesn't end up like Outer Heaven.”

“Dolores!”

“What? We've had this conversation before; you know a nuclear strike is very likely, especially without the protection that a world-power provides us.”

“That's why we'd push for an alliance with this country, and then try to enter the UN.”

“What would we even do for our economy?”

“There's a lot of options, but most of them rely on other factors.”

“So basically, you don't have any idea?”

“I plead the fifth.”

Dolores snorted, before asking Alphys a question.

“So what does the ML01 mean?”

“A-ah, that...”

She fidgeted for awhile, before realizing she wasn't going to drop it.

“M-Mafia Land...” she whispered, blushing.

There was a brief moment of silence before everyone flipped out again.

You couldn't help but laugh.

\---

The island plan was coming along well.

You were happy, but with how busy everyone was, no one had had a chance to relax.

Asgore had asked you to look over some budget plans based on the money people continued to donate. You entered Toriel and Frisk's room with a knock.

“Toriel, could you take a look at this?”

Toriel continued to knit, not even glancing at you.

“I am sure Dreemurr would be of much more help. Why do you not ask him?”

“What?”

Toriel stilled.

“You heard me,” she hissed.

At this point, you were confused, and a bit hurt.

“I don't understand.”

Toriel's eyes flashed as they glared into yours. She stood and towered over you.

“All this time, and only now do you ask for my help. And yet you have needed help many times before, and every time, you have gone crawling to that man. I must mean little to you, if you would rather have his aid over _your sworn partner's_.”

She forced you backward until your back hit the door, slamming it shut.

“Are your words worth so little, then? Why should I continue to put my faith in you, when you have proven yourself to be unfaithful? Cavorting around with that man in such a sickening display.”

The cutting words dug into you like knives. Your head was spinning, breath coming faster, you could feel yourself on the edge of tears.

But this was familiar to you.

 _She's jealous_ , you realized.

“You love him,” you blurt out.

“I do not!” she denied furiously. But there was an undertone to her voice that had been there the whole time that you could hear now.

You pushed away from the door, looking up to meet her eyes squarely.

“You do. You're just not in love with him anymore.” 

Toriel stood there, stunned. Then her face crumpled from the bitter grief and fear that had been driving her to say all this. She stumbled backward.

“How can I be jealous of that man for holding your attention and yet also be jealous of you for holding his?”

You took a step toward her.

“Sometimes, you don't stop loving someone, even after they hurt you. You just start hating them as well.”

Another step.

“Help me understand why you feel that way towards Asgore?”

You held out your hand. You noticed it shook from all the adrenaline that coursed through you. 

You'd always hated confrontation.

Toriel noticed as well. Face twisting with regret, she carefully cradled your hand with both of hers, bowing her head.

“I am sorry. You did not deserve that at all. I let my emotions get the better of me.”

A tear ran down her face, wetting her fur.

“That is all I ever do; I run on my emotions and throw tantrums like a child. And then I run away.”

You carefully brushed your fingers against her cheek so she looked at you.

“I don't see you running away now,” you pointed out gently.

Toriel snorted.

“I do not have anywhere to run to anymore.”

She stopped.

“No, I _cannot_ run anymore. I am queen again; everyone is counting on me. And I must protect Frisk. But everything up here is so _different_ and I do not know _how_ -” 

A sob cuts her off as she starts to cry in earnest. Her whisper trembled.

“I am so scared. I am already forced to cooperate with the one who _slaughtered_ innocents. I could not bear it if Frisk died as well. I have already lost so many.”

“What?” you whispered in growing horror. “Asgore? Asgore killed people?”

Overcome with grief, Toriel just nodded.

You guided her over to her bed so both of you could take a seat.

“Tell me everything.”

\---

It began with the monsters' defeat and their subsequent banishment.

Of being forced underground into the deepest darkness.

Of the struggle to survive.

“The war had orphaned many; Asgore and I were no exception. We were so young when we took the throne, but there was no one else who could lead our people.”

Ever so slowly, the monsters carved out a way to live in the dark.

Things improved.

Yet their population dwindled.

“Monsters are extremely dependent upon our emotional stability. Without it, we succumb to our negative emotions--hopelessness, despair, desperation. We call it 'falling down'.”

But then!

The birth of the prince!

Oh, what a joyous event!

“He was so beautiful. My kind, sweet Asriel.”

The king, queen, and prince spent their days together in the flower garden.

And for a time, the monsters were content.

Then, something unexpected occurred.

A human child fell into the Underground.

And it's the prince who finds them, heals them, and argues for their life.

“It is not something easily put aside--the wariness against humans that we learned from the war. But they were such a sweet child, and innocent. In such a short time, Asgore and I came to love them as our second child. They and Asriel went everywhere together.” 

It was proof that humans and monsters could coexist; that someday, they could break the barrier and live on the surface once again.

The hope of humans and monsters.

But it was not to be, for the human child fell ill and died.

“But we did not know that at first. All we knew was that both of our children had disappeared. Asgore and I were frantic; we searched for hours, but not a trace of them was to be found. Until we searched the corridor leading to the barrier. What we found...”

The prince, body covered in grievous wounds, clutching his sibling's body and a handful of golden flowers.

“He told us that it had been their last request--to see the golden flowers of their hometown. He absorbed their Soul in order to pass through the barrier. The humans attacked him. He fled. He kept apologizing. We rushed desperately to save him, but-”

It was too late.

The prince died in the king's arms, and his dust settled over the flowers in the garden.

“I collapsed from my grief, and for a long time, I hovered on the edge of life and death.

“By the time I had recovered, months had passed. That was the beginning of the end of our relationship.”

Ruling alone all that time had changed the king.

He had declared that all fallen humans were to be killed, and their souls used to break the barrier.

“We started to argue. A pall hung over the Underground. Many more of our subjects fell down.”

It was into these circumstance that a second human fell.

And she was just as peaceful as the first.

“She made her way to our castle and I immediately took her under my protection. She had harmed no one; she was innocent.

“At that point, Asgore and I were arguing near-constantly. But as time passed, Asgore seemed to accept that I would not allow any harm to come to her. Our tempers cooled, and we tentatively began to reach out to each other.

“Then he took that fragile peace and _crushed_ it.”

The queen stood horrified at the door of the human's room, pie falling to the floor.

Inside was the king, clutching the human's body to his chest with one hand.

In the other rested her Soul.

“The trust between us was shattered beyond repair. Not only had he killed an innocent, but he then refused to absorb it and go through the barrier to collect the others Souls we needed for our freedom.”

Completely repulsed, the queen gathered together her possessions and the items needed for her children's last request and journeyed through the Underground back to the first place they had settled so very long ago.

“Asriel had said that they had wanted to see the golden flowers. I buried their body and then planted the flowers that Asriel had given his life for.”

Time passed and more humans fell.

But the story was always the same.

“No matter what I tried, how I pleaded, all of them left the Ruins. And all of them died.”

It often occurs in stories, that a sacrifice is needed to lift a curse.

It was completely different when it happened in real life.

“While one Soul could be used to cross the barrier, seven were needed to break it. Slowly, Asgore gathered together six Souls. And tore my own to pieces in the process.”

Then at last, the last Soul needed fell into the Underground.

“Frisk refused to harm any monster, even after being hurt. They gave me hope again, and motivated me to confront Asgore instead of continuing to run away from my problems.

“It still surprises me sometimes, how strong their will is. That they lived when all the others died. Or perhaps my plea for Sans to protect them is what made the difference. 

“In any case, all of the friends Frisk made had gathered together. There was a flash of light, the Souls disappeared, and the barrier was destroyed.

“We were finally free.”

\---

You had been sitting together silently after the end of Toriel's story, drawing comfort from each other. The tears that had slid down your faces had dried by the time you roused yourself enough to ask a question that had been bothering you.

“So what made you jealous in the first place?”

There was a long pause before Toriel answered.

“Months ago, at that dinner party. I saw you blushing at a comment he made.”

It took you a moment to recall, before you laughed, cheek brushing against her arm as you looked up at her.

“Oh yeah, that. That was me blushing because he helped me realize I'd fallen in love with you.”

Toriel jerked her head down to look at you. Seeing your sincerity, she started to blush.

“Oh-oh, dear.”

“Yep.”

She covered her face.

“And I was so horrible.”

“The things you said were pretty horrible, yeah.”

“I must make this up to you somehow.”

“Well, if you're offering...let me brush your fur sometime?”

She peeked between her fingers at you.

“What?”

“What, what? Tori, I've just confessed to you. I find you fascinating. I want to learn more about you.”

You were delighted when her blush deepened.

\---

The next day, you confronted Asgore as he was entering his room after dinner.

Nothing would make you happier than to ignore this situation...but Toriel was right. 

This was not something you could run away from.

Your heart had chosen.

Now you just had to hope that you didn't regret it. 

“Hey, could I talk with you?”

As Asgore graciously allowed you into his room once more, you wryly thought that this was becoming a trend.

There wasn't any way to tactfully start this conversation, so you were going to ask about something you thought would be related. 

Call it a hunch.

“So. How did Undyne lose her eye?”

Emotions flashed quicksilver over his face, before he drew on his kingly persona and he became unreadable.

“Why do you ask?”

You held his gaze.

“I'm trying to determine if I can continue to choose your side when you've killed people,” you stated evenly.

Asgore stiffened, before he sagged, sadness suffusing his features.

“Who did you hear that from?”

“Toriel.”

He sighed as he sat heavily on his bed.

“Of course.”

He was silent as he visibly gathered himself.

“Undyne lost her eye against the seventh human to fall into the Underground. He had been particularly driven to escape, only caring for his own life. When Undyne confronted him, he shot her. Undyne killed him in retaliation.”

You absorbed this information, before asking something else.

“And the others?”

“Three I killed personally. One by all accounts drowned in Waterfall. And one met an old friend of mine. When I visited him, he just handed over the Soul.”

“Then...putting aside the last two; why did you kill them?”

“I had to. I had chosen that path with the first human I killed. The hope that I could free us from the Underground...I could not just stop.”

“The first human you killed, that was the second one to fall into the Underground, right?”

“Yes.”

“Ah, then, see, there was something about Toriel's story that I thought was odd. She said that you had accepted that she wouldn't allow you to kill them. And then she found you in their room after you'd killed them.

“But...why would you clutch someone you'd killed to your chest if you didn't care about them?”

You studied Asgore's frozen form.

“That didn't make sense to me.”

Asgore chuckled bitterly after he gathered himself once more.

“You are very good at seeing the heart of things. Things best left untouched.”

Sensing the change in the air, you sat down beside him.

“I don't want a fairytale if it's a lie. So tell me what really happened in that room.”

\---

The order that owned her was thrown into disarray by the rumor of a monster being sighted on the outskirts of where they had been sealed.

Because of this, she had been given an important mission--journey to the cursed mountain and find a way through the seal. If it was possible, she was then to insert herself into the good graces of someone powerful. Once they lowered their guard, she was to kill as many of them as possible.

She obeyed.

But as the days passed in the Underground, and Toriel continued to be nothing but kind to her, continued to protect her from Asgore, who was right in wanting to kill her...

She struggled with herself.

Could she really kill her, when she was the first to show her what love was?

And then Toriel finally convinced Asgore that she was not a threat.

It was the perfect time to strike.

But she hesitated.

And she realized that she couldn't do it.

She chose the monsters who loved her over the humans who had treated her like a tool.

And she decided to come clean to Asgore about her mission, after if it meant he would never trust her again. Even if it meant he took her Soul.

Because the order was dangerous.

She had to tell him.

She fiddled with the knife bound to her forearm with a ribbon, hidden by her long sleeves, as she waited for Asgore to come check on her.

“Howdy, little one. Are you ready for bed?”

She jerked as his gentle voice broke into her thoughts, hand falling away from her weapon.

Whatever happened, this wasn't a conversation where she would use it.

She shook her head, peering up at the king of monsters.

“I want to tell you something.”

His eyes were kind as he gazed at her.

“What is it?”

She braced herself.

“I didn't fall into the Underground by accident. I was sent-”

Her throat locked up, magic winding about her body like chains as she choked.

Asgore took a step towards her, alarmed.

“What is-”

“G-get away!” She could barely push the words past the geas that now bound her. She struggled against the magic pushing her to reach for her weapon and kill.

“Little one, what is wrong!?”

She desperately tried to find a chink in the spell and break it before it took control of her completely.

But the order had been thorough.

“R-run,” she whispered with what little control she had left as tears ran down her face.

“Wha-”

He just barely dodged her first attack. Her knife slashed back down to be blocked by his conjured trident.

“Child, please, stop!” He cried out.

But she made no reply, fully controlled by the magic that smothered her will.

She disengaged backwards, before lunging to the side and stabbing forwards.

Asgore's reflexes from the war kicked in.

He spun out of the way.

And then drove his trident into her back.

She choked, knife falling from her hand.

“No,” Asgore whispered, horrified. Both of them sank to the ground as he dismissed his trident to cradle her body. “No no no. Little one, talk to me!”

Her body shuddered, the glowing bindings fading away as her life-force drained out of her.

Her eyes fluttered open.

She saw his devastated expression.

She tried to reach for him.

He caught her hand to hold it against his cheek.

“N-not...your fault. Order, m-made me,” she coughed out. Blood trickled out of her mouth down the side of her face.

“It will be okay. I-I will get someone to heal you, and then you will be just fine,” Asgore assured her frantically, clutching her to his chest as he stood up.

“I-I didn't want to complete m-my m-mission. I-I wanted to live together w-with you forever,” she said weakly.

“You will! Toriel, you, and I; we will all live together,” he said desperately at he made his way towards the door.

She clutched at his face.

“Be c-careful. The order is d-dangerous. T-they've gathered to wipe you out. D-don't let them win.”

Her grip slackened as her voice trailed off.

“L-love you...”

She went limp in his grasp.

Asgore trembled at the familiar sensation of someone dying in his arms. He closed his eyes tightly against the tears.

A glowing light shone through his eyelids. He slowly opened his eyes, already knowing what he would see.

Before him hovered a Soul.

He reached out, heart heavy. Her Soul gently floated down to nestle into his palm. He could feel a faint feeling of love and sorrow, enveloped within everlasting Patience.

There was the sound of a plate shattering.

He looked up to find Toriel staring at him, horrified.

\---

“At that point, I was trapped. To stop gathering Souls would mean telling everyone that we would be trapped forever. To continue would mean freeing us only to be slaughtered.

“The best I could do was delay. I refused to cross the barrier. 

“I knew that if she had learnt of the truth, Toriel would have wasted away. So I became a focus for her anger. As long as she continued to live, I was fine with her despising me. And I hoped that no more humans would fall into the Underground.

“But one by one they fell. And their Souls were collected. Until we only needed one more.

“The pressure from everyone forced me to ask the Royal Scientist if there was any way to create an artificial Soul. At least that way, we would have been freed without having to kill yet another human. And I hoped that the existence of monsters had faded from memory. It had been so long since we had been imprisoned. Alphys tried...but she failed horribly. It is why she is no longer Royal Scientist--Toriel fired her after she found out what she had done.

“So, it was not until Frisk that things changed. They confronted me in my castle with a determined look on their face. It hurt, that I would have to kill them. But our battle was interrupted by everyone arriving to protect them. Especially Tori. She fireballed me right out of the way.”

He had a sad smile on his face.

“I visited the Ruins, you know. Only very rarely, and only in secret. Seeing Toriel reminded me of what I was fighting for.”

“Do you regret it?” you asked after a pause.

“Yes. No matter what others say, I know the truth. Ultimately, they all died because of me. Their blood is on my hands. That will not change.”

“Then...I think you should tell Toriel about this. There's no reason to keep it a secret any longer. At this point, it's just hurting both of you.”

He glanced sideways at you, before slowly inclining his head.

“I will...think about it. What of you?”

You gathered your thoughts.

“I...can't accept your reason for killing them. But I accept you truly did the best you could in a horrible situation. I can't judge you for protecting your people.”

“So where does that leave us?”

You stood and offered him your hand.

“As your employee, I will continue to work for you. As your friend, I will do the best I can so you will never be forced into a situation like that ever again.”

He smiled faintly and grabbed your hand.

“That is the best I could hope for.”

\---

A few days later, you noticed Asgore pull Toriel aside.

You don't know exactly what was said, but afterward Toriel came and hugged you tightly.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

\---

You entered the house after another chaotic workday.

Papyrus, Asgore, and Dolores weren't due to be back in Ebott for another week.

And Alphys had gushed to you over Undernet that she had a date with Undyne.

So it was just you, Sans, Toriel, and Frisk that night.

Eating without the others was a quiet affair. The house felt emptier.

To distract yourself, after dinner, you asked:

“Anyone want to play poker?”

Sans perked up.

“What's that?” Frisk asked curiously.

“A card game. Not something a child should play,” Toriel said, disapproval evident.

“Not necessarily,” you countered. “This is just for fun, so we wouldn't be playing for money. And it'll be good for Frisk; teaches you how to read people, which is a useful skill to have.”

“Please?” Frisk begged.

Toriel wavered, then relented.

“Very well. But only until your bedtime!”

Frisk cheered.

“so what are we betting with then?”

“Hmm...”

“Oh! How about those candies Muffet gave me?” Frisk suggested.

Muffet had recently taken to trying to recreate popular human candies. She had given her recent batch to Frisk, demanding their opinion.

“Sure,” you agreed weakly.

You suppressed a shudder as Frisk went to fetch the basket.

You comforted yourself with the thought that you wouldn't have to eat any as you went to your room to retrieve your deck of cards.

Once everyone gathered around the table, you explained the rules of Texas hold 'em, along with the special house rules you would be playing with, as Toriel and Frisk counted out an even amount of candy for everyone.

The game was pretty lively; everyone had a good poker face, and the conversation flowed easily.

\---

Round 3, final round of betting after the river.

It's just you and Sans left.

You opened with a bet of four candy.

There was a brief staredown.

He called your bet.

Both of you revealed your cards.

Turns out both of you bluffed and won with the pair of kings in the flop.

It's a tie.

You laughed with Sans as he split the pot with you. Toriel giggled at Frisk's shout of, “No fair!”

\---

Round 4.

Frisk stubbornly goes all-in.

“Are you sure, my child?” Toriel asked with a smile.

They nodded vigorously.

Both of them reveal their cards.

Frisk's two pair, aces over sevens, trumped Toriel's two pair, sevens over fours.

Toriel's eyes widened before she groaned.

Frisk cackled as they raked in the pot.

\---

Round 5.

Sans continuously called Toriel's raises.

Toriel narrowed her eyes at him.

Sans grinned with a waggle of his eyebrows.

Toriel's flush trumped Sans' two pair, queens over sevens.

“nice one, tori.”

“Thank you, Sans.”

\---

Round 11.

Sans won back his loss against Toriel with a pair of kings and an ace kicker.

“always good to have an ace in the hole.”

Toriel snorted as she pushed the pot towards him.

\---

Round 16.

Another showdown between Toriel and Frisk. Frisk kept having to jerk their head up at this point; the game was winding down.

Frisk called Toriel's raise and they revealed their cards.

Toriel won with a full house.

“Noooo,” Frisk groaned as they slumped down in their chair.

“Revenge is sweet,” Toriel said playfully as she popped one of the candies into her mouth.

\---

Round 20.

“Two pair, queens over fours,” you stated in satisfaction.

Frisk sighed.

“Two pair, nines over fours,” they grumbled in defeat before letting out a jaw-cracking yawn.

“Come on, my dear one. Time for bed.”

“Not yet! We didn't figure out who won!”

You looked everyone's candy over, counting quickly.

“I did,” you said with some surprise. “Followed by Toriel, Sans, and then you, Frisk.”

“Aw man, I got _last_?”

“You did really well for your first time playing.”

“Still!”

You laughed.

“Then we'll just have to play again sometime.”

“Yeah!”

“It's a date, then. Good night, Frisk.”

“Night. Night, Sans!”

“night, kid. don't let the bedbugs bite ya.”

Frisk giggled.

“I won't.”

As Toriel escorted Frisk to their room, you looked over at Sans, curious about something.

“So why'd you fold so much in the later rounds? Didn't get any good hands?”

“nah.”

Sans flicked his finger against his bowl of candy with a grin.

“i had already won the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, n' everything.”

You let out a bark of laughter after you counted Sans' candy again.

42.

“You're ridiculous,” you said with a grin as Toriel entered the room.

Sans winced.

“What's wrong?” you asked as you half-rose out of your chair.

He hid his brief look of anguish by slapping a grin onto his face.

“nah, it's nothing.”

You and Toriel shared a glance.

You retook your seat as Toriel went towards the kitchen. Shortly after, the smell of chocolate filled the air.

You laid your hand on his.

“You sure?”

“yep.”

He shrugged as he gently drew his hand out from under your own.

You knew then that you couldn't confront him about it head-on; Sans had his pride and it was very hard to catch him with his guard down.

He was as strong as he was fragile.

A beautiful paradox.

You'd have to change how you approached this.

Spotting the discarded playing cards from your game of poker, you had an idea.

“Sans, have you ever had your fortune read?”

“what?”

You picked up the deck and began to shuffle.

“It's something you can do with cards; using them to read your fortune.”

“I thought you needed a tarot deck for that,” Toriel commented as she placed a cup of hot chocolate if front of you and Sans before taking a seat with her own. You gave her a smile of thanks as you explained.

“Playing cards were derived from tarot decks, so there's some similarity between them. I try different tarot decks every once in awhile, but I haven't found one I like more than a deck of playing cards.”

Sans was clearly skeptical.

“so, what, you're saying you can read the future?”

“No, not exactly. Having your fortune read is more like...asking for advice, for a guide you can follow, should you choose to.”

“and you believe this?”

You paused.

“I believe you get out what you put in. For me, it's a mixture of asking for advice from Lady Luck and having a conversation with myself. Like my subconscious. Then it's just using intuition to decipher the message.”

Seeing Sans was still uncertain, you offered to read your own fortune first.

“So you can see how it works.”

“...k.”

You started shuffling as you formulated your question.

“Would it be wise for the monsters to use their technology as an export once we get the island running?”

Sans and Toriel looked at each other as you laid out your cards.

“Huh,” you said thoughtfully.

“What is it?” Toriel asked, peering at the cards.

You looked at Sans.

“Did you want me to explain each card in turn or just summarize?”

“...cliff notes version.”

“Alright.”

You gathered your thoughts as you tapped your finger against the ace of spades.

“While doing so will be very profitable and enable communication between monsters and humans, there's an equal chance between humans receiving it peacefully and causing a change in how humans view monsters, and humans using this technology against monsters. The choice is between money or safety. This situation can be resolved by a surprising idea.”

“Oh, that is very interesting!” Toriel commented.

“yeah, but that's all information we already knew.”

“But this allowed me to put the situation into perspective. Now I know that I need to caution Asgore against this, and to ask various people, such as you, Sans, if they have a solution.”

“why ask me?”

“Why not you?” you countered.

“just seems to be more of alphys' area of expertise.”

Toriel interrupted you before you could continue to argue.

“I will go ahead and bring this up with Asgore once he returns. For now, Sans, will you play along and ask a question?”

Sans stared at Toriel without expression before he grinned humorlessly.

“sure, tori.”

Sans looked over at you.

“You don't have to say your question out loud. You just need to keep it in mind as you shuffle the deck,” you explained as you handed over the cards.

Sans lazily shuffled a few times before he handed the deck back to you.

You bit back your first instinctive response.

“what?”

You shook your heard with a smile.

“Nothing. You probably want the cliff notes version again, right? Let's see...there are a lot of new happenings in your life, bringing you happiness and surprise. Your choice is either to remain as you are...”

You hovered your finger over the joker card.

“...or adapt.”

You tapped the six of hearts.

“Your situation can be resolved with strong emotions. There is good fortune in your future.”

Sans stared at the cards, before raising his hands in surrender.

“remain as i am or adapt, huh...welp. alright, you got me. looks like there's something to this after all.”

“Does it help?”

Sans rose out of his chair.

“dunno yet. guess we'll have to see. night you two.”

You and Toriel watched as Sans headed to his room with a wave.

Toriel turned back to you.

“Will you tell me what your reaction to seeing Sans' cards meant?”

“Oh, it really didn't mean anything. Just I usually interpret certain cards certain ways, but without knowing the question, I had to generalize my answer a little bit.”

Gathering all the cards up, you put them back in their case before picking up your and Sans' cup and carrying them to the kitchen.

Toriel followed with hers.

You hugged her.

“Good night,” you said.

“Good night,” Toriel replied fondly, before both of you headed off to bed.

Lying in bed, the ace of hearts danced on the back of your eyelids.

_Though I can hope it means what I think it means._

\---

Sans was alarmed by the sharp chemical smell coming from the house as he opened the door for Frisk. Frisk, however, perked up and ran inside before he could stop them.

Sans and Papyrus hastily followed them to the living room, where they saw that they were bouncing excitedly next to the table you were sitting at.

“Do mine next!” Frisk asked eagerly.

“Sure. Go ahead and wash your hands, then pick what colors you want,” you said as you gestured over to a container filled with tiny bottles containing some type of liquid in a rainbow of colors.

“WHAT DOES 'DO MINE' MEAN?” Papyrus asked curiously.

You smiled up at him as you showed him your hands.

“OH NO! HUMAN, YOUR FINGERS ARE GREEN! ARE YOU ILL?” Papyrus panicked.

You laughed. You picked up the bottle of green nail polish to show to him.

“No, no. This is nail polish; you use it to paint your nails different colors.”

“OH. THEN...WILL YOU 'DO MINE' AS WELL?” Papyrus asked.

You looked questioningly at Sans.

“I don't know. Will he be okay?”

“yeah, he'll be fine.”

After getting reassurance that it'd be safe for Papyrus, you turned back to him.

“Then, are you sure? You'll have to take off your gloves.”

Papyrus' expression shifted from surprised to contemplative as he fidgeted with his gloves.

His expression firmed with determination.

“YES. I WANT TO EXPERIENCE WHAT FRISK EXPERIENCES.”

“Aww. I want to experience what you experience, too, Paps! Come on, let's pick our colors,” Frisk responded, touched, as they jumped at him for a hug.

“NYEHEHE! OF COURSE! ONLY I AM GREAT ENOUGH TO HELP YOU WITH THIS,” Papyrus beamed as he swung them around.

“Don't forget to wash your hands, too, then,” you called as they twirled off together.

You go back to painting your nails as Sans scrambled for something to say.

“this is new,” Sans commented.

“I don't do it often since I'm lazy, but every once in awhile I get the urge. Amy was really helpful; I mentioned I wanted to and she sent me all her extra colors,” you explained as you finished putting on the top coat.

Frisk and Papyrus returned before the silence between them could become too awkward. Frisk thrust a bottle into Sans' hands.

“Sans, here! Me 'n Papyrus picked out a color for you!”

“YES, IT HAS A VERY 'SANS' FEEL TO IT.”

“i don't think-wait. why does this have 'been there, scene it' on it?”

“Ah, that's probably the name of that color,” you explained.

Sans looked over at you, grin widening.

“really? what color did you use then?”

“'Art you wondering?'” you replied slyly, a question and answer all-in-one.

Sans laughed.

“I 'red my fortune cookie' and it said we'd have Chinese for dinner,” Frisk chimed in with a grin.

“we'll see, kid,” Sans chuckled, before turning to Papyrus. “what about you, bro?”

“PERFECTLY PUN-FREE, THANK YOU VERY MUCH,” Papyrus said with a huff.

“'A good man-darin is hard to find' and 'glitzerland',” Frisk called out.

“FRISK!” Papyrus stomped his foot.

“Haha, I'm just telling the truth!”

Papyrus turned to you entreatingly.

“WHY DID THEY HAVE TO USE PUNS?”

You grinned.

“Sorry, Papyrus. I guess the make-up industry just can't help but be colorful.”

“NO! NO MORE!”

“They do it with shampoo as well.”

“NYOOHOOHOO!”

Sans watched you rile up his brother with a smile.

It was little things like this that made him realize he'd fallen for you.

His smile froze.

_shit._

\---

After your confession, you had been getting to know Toriel. You tried to spend time together at least once a week. Because of the hectic schedule caused by trying to make the island a reality, you weren't able to meet more than that.

Toriel and you were companionably reading books together when you decided to bring up something that had been bothering you.

“Hey Toriel?”

“Yes?”

“...what do you think of Sans?”

Toriel looked at you, surprised.

“He is a dear friend of mine. Why do you ask?”

“I like him,” you admitted.

Toriel stilled.

“Ah. Then you are withdrawing your courtship?”

“ **No.** ”

You faced her squarely to show your sincerity.

“My feelings for you have only grown stronger as I've gotten to know you. But I find myself drawn to him as well. What I'm trying to ask is if you feel the same.”

“Oh. Oh! You mean...?”

You nodded.

“How common is it for monsters to have multiple partners?”

“..it is not unheard of. Monsters are made of love. That love comes in many forms is therefore not a foreign concept in our society.”

“Then, what do you think?”

Toriel responded slowly as she thought it through.

“I am...not against it. I admit to feeling fond of him, though more than that, I feel grateful. I was still living in the Ruins when I met him. Well, I say 'met', but my first interaction with him was listening to him make knock-knock jokes on the door to the exit of the Ruins. After so many years of sorrow and solitude, he made me laugh again.

“So I cherish the connection I have with him. Whether that could deepen into love, I do not know. Though, my heart has already surprised me once by falling for you. I would not be surprised if it surprised me again.”

You interrupted her, stunned.

“Woah, wait, hold up. You like me? Really?”

Toriel's expression shifted to chagrined.

“Oh, drat. I had been wanting to reveal that in a more romantic way.”

Smile slowly growing, you strode over to her before sitting in her lap and winding your arms around her neck.

“You returning my affections is literally the most romantic thing you could say to me.”

Toriel's arms encircled your waist.

“Still, I feel as if I am continually stumbling in the dark in regards to our relationship,” she complained good-naturedly.

You brushed your cheek against hers.

“That makes two of us, then.”

Toriel returned the gesture gently.

“The expression 'fake it until you make it' comes to mind.”

You snuggled into her shoulder with a content sigh.

“Then I'm glad we're not faking it anymore.”

Toriel stroked your back.

“Yes, I quite agree.”

You cuddled together for awhile before Toriel asked a question.

“When did you first realize your feelings towards Sans?”

You hummed, rousing yourself from your half-asleep state.

“Awhile ago, to be honest. I kept wanting to share things with you--a funny picture, an interesting story--but then I noticed that I wanted to share things with Sans as well. And I found myself missing both of you. At least with you, we meet once a week. I haven't seen Sans in a month now. Which is ridiculous, considering we live in the same house.”

Toriel slowly frowned.

“I have not seen much of Sans either. We all have been busy.”

“We'll just have to catch him sometime,” you stated, before drawing back to look at Toriel searchingly. “If you're sure?”

Toriel briefly tightened her hold on you in reassurance. 

“Yes, I am sure. We will see if Sans wishes to accept our offer.”

“Awesome.”

Your intention to resume cuddling was interrupted when you jerked upright.

“Shit. If this works out, how will we explain this? Reporters can be pretty nasty.”

“Leave that to me.”

Toriel's smile was sharp as she told you her plan.

You looked at her in awe.

“God, you're hot.”

Toriel blushed, then she slowly raised an eyebrow, the mirth in her eyes dancing with the flames she summoned.

“You could even say I'm on fire?”

You laughed.

“A true keeper of the flame,” you agreed.

\---

Toriel was worried about you. You had been cooped up in your room for a solid week now, trying to coordinate everything for Asgore, Papyrus, and Frisk.

Her thoughts about what to do about the situation were interrupted.

“hey, tori. could i get your help with something?”

She finished drying the dish she was holding before turning to look at a fidgeting Sans.

“Of course. What do you need?”

“i've been trying to recreate a recipe i heard about 'n i think i've finally got it. wanted you to take a look at it, and help with baking it.”

He handed over a battered piece of paper.

Taking it, Toriel examined the ingredients, eyes lighting up as she recognized them. Reading the directions, a smile slowly bloomed on her face as she realized why it seemed familiar. Looking at Sans, she asked if it was for you.

Sans shifted back-and-forth on his feet.

“yeah. they've been having a rough time of it. thought this might cheer them up.”

“And how long have you been working on this?” Toriel asked archly.

Sans mumbled something, blushing faintly.

 _Oh, this is perfect_ , Toriel thought. _Looks like there is a good chance he will accept our offer._

“Come, then. Let us start,” Toriel said as she drew Sans forward, missing Sans' blush deepening at the contact.

\---

Toriel opened the door to your room as she called your name softly.

You looked up tiredly.

“Come down and eat with me and Sans,” Toriel coaxed. 

You looked around distractedly.

“Sorry, go ahead and eat without me. I still have a lot to do.”

Expression firming, Toriel walked over and scooped you up. You clutched at her with a squeak.

“That was not a request,” Toriel declared decisively as she strode down the stairs.

“Alright, alright! You win; I'll eat!”

“Good,” Toriel said satisfied as she put you down.

You noticed Sans standing awkwardly by the dinner table, but you were distracted by the nostalgic scent permeating the room.

You stopped dead.

Then you half-ran, half-stumbled over to the table. You shakily raised the lid on the dish.

There before you was your mother's secret recipe.

“Sans asked for my help in recreating it for you.”

Tearing your gaze away, you focused on Sans. He shrugged, clearly uncomfortable.

“eh. wasn't too hard. just took some trial and error. 'n by that i mean it was mostly a lot of error-”

He was cut off as you hugged him tightly and kissed his cheek.

“Thank you,” you choked out quietly. You beckoned Toriel over to you because you refused to let go of Sans after what he had done for you. Once she was close, you pulled her down to your level to kiss her as well, overcome with emotion. 

You froze at the surge of magic you felt as you went to wipe away your tears. You snapped your head in the direction the pressure was coming from, only to find Sans with a frozen expression on his face, his eyes winked out.

You couldn't read his expression at all, but you knew magical surges only happened because of extreme emotion, so you slowly released Sans and backed off. You opened your mouth to apologize.

Sans hid his face in his hands.

“i don't know what to do anymore,” he choked out quietly.

You thought he might be crying.

You exchanged a worried look with Toriel, before both of you moved to embrace him. 

“About what?” you ventured carefully.

His expression when he looked up made you both flinch. He gestured between you all vaguely with a wet-sounding laugh.

“this.”

There was a brief silence as you both realized the meaning of his words.

“Is this something you want?” Toriel asked softly, gliding her hand up to cup his cheek. He seemed to struggle with himself before he leaned into her touch, eyes closed and exhaustion apparent. His grin was painful.

“i know i can't have it. i've known from the beginning. i'm just being 'ridiculous'.”

You frowned.

“Why do you think that?”

“you're using your relationship to protect frisk. adding me into the mix is just asking for trouble.”

You stopped yourself from saying anything careless. He wouldn't like it if the only reason you disputed his point was to reassure him.

Thankfully, Toriel had come up with a solution. You nodded to the question in Toriel's eyes. She smiled as she caressed his cheek with her thumb.

“There is an old, old rule: 'a Queen may have as many Consorts as she so chooses'. And I would love to tear down anyone who implies that two of my Consorts getting along is wrong.”

Sans eyes flew open to stare at her. You squeezed him lightly.

“Both of us had been hoping you felt this way, Sans. That's why we came up with a plan.”

“I only Consort with the best, after all,” Toriel said with a toss of her head.

There was a beat of silence.

Then Sans broke down into laughter, clutching both of you tightly.

“yeah, 's a real crowning achievement,” he replied hoarsely.

You smiled into Sans' shoulder.

Everything would be alright.

\---

At first the dance was hesitant;  
A wary orbit between three stars.  
Then push and pull and twirl and dip,  
Souls align to ringing choirs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When you try to make a "a queen, a jester, and a herald walk into a bar" joke and it turns into a poem.
> 
> And all those nail polish names are actual names. The company that makes them is FP.
> 
> Sans' "Been There, Scene It!" was perfect on multiple levels. It's a pretty blue that looks almost green in certain lighting. And it's got this really awesome subtle golden glitter affect. So not only does it match his eye, the pun is also relevant to his past.  
> Reader's "Art You Wondering?" is a shimmering green.  
> Frisk's "Red My Fortune Cookie" is a bright bold red.  
> Papyrus's "A Good Man-darin Is Hard To Find" and "Glitzerland" are a bright orange and a see-through snow-like glitter, respectively.


	5. Interlude: Koi - B02.2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Undyne and Alphys go on a date.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been wanting to add Undyne/Alphys to the pairings for awhile now, but I didn't feel right doing that until I'd actually written a scene containing just those two. Clicking on a fic that says it has a ship you love only to find out it's just in the background is sad. This also doubled as a character study for Undyne, since before this I didn't have a lot of experience writing her.

“Fuhuhu, perfect!”

Undyne grinned at her reflection in the mirror. She had custom-ordered her outfit from Tailor Taylor--a clothing brand created by the so-named Taylor to serve the wider range of body types that monsters possessed--and it was exactly what she had wanted.

This was going to be the best date ever.

A soft knock on the bathroom door broke her from her thoughts.

“Undyne? I'm ready when you are,” Alphys called through the door.

“Got it! Wait for me in the living room!” Undyne yelled back.

“Okay.” There was the sound of receding footsteps.

Undyne gave herself one more look-over, patting her pant pocket containing her phone, before giving her reflection a firm nod and throwing open the door.

Heading into the living room, she saw Alphys, standing next to the couch, talking with the seated Sans. Frisk was lying on the rug on their stomach, swinging their feet in the air as they concentrated on completing their homework.

Undyne took a moment to admire Alphys before swooping in to hug her from behind, causing Alphys to jump with a start.

“You look cute, 'Phys,” Undyne said, setting her chin on Alphys' shoulder. She felt Alphys' tail curl around her leg in unspoken thanks, before Alphys turned around in her arms.

“You too,” Alphys said with a blush and a smile after giving Undyne a once-over. Undyne grinned, before looking over at Sans and holding out her hand demandingly.

“Keys.”

“hm? oh yeah, right. forgot you'd exhausted all your other options,” Sans said with a grin, handing over the keys to his scooter while Frisk giggled in the background.

“Seriously? SERIOUSLY? Can't you quit it with the fu-freaking car puns already?” Undyne groaned.

“nope. paps needs the en-car-agement while he's getting his license.”

“More like he'll have a breakdown!”

“heh, good one.”

“What...OH MY GOD! NO!” Undyne stomped her foot, before grabbing Alphys and striding swiftly towards the front door. “TORIEL, WE'RE LEAVING!”

“You two steer clear of trouble!” Toriel called back from the kitchen, clearly amused.

“Yeah, don't go full throttle on anyone!” Frisk said, still giggling.

“NGAHHH!” Undyne slammed the door shut behind them, cutting off the sound of Sans', Frisk's, and Toriel's laughter.

“Those three DESERVE each other,” Undyne huffed, heading towards the side of the house where Sans parked his scooter. Alphys chuckled.

“Don't you mean, 'those four'?”

“Oh yeah, that punk joins in now, too.”

“Yeah.” Alphys sighed happily. “They're so cute together.”

“Huh? Who?”

“Sans, Toriel, and 'the punk', as you call them.”

Undyne stopped short in confusion.

“Hold up, where's Sans come in? He's not part of the 'protect Frisk' thing going on between Toriel and them.”

“Not _yet_.”

“...Sans has got a crush? That's HILARIOUS! We gotta tell everyone!”

Undyne pulled out her phone, but Alphys' hands interrupted her.

“I-I don't think that's a good idea. Sans was nice enough to not say anything about our crush on each other, and I-I think we should return the favor,” Alphys said firmly enough, though Undyne noticed her toes curling nervously.

“Ugh, fine.” Undyne sighed, putting away her phone, before plopping herself down onto the scooter. “Then let's get going!”

“Right!” Alphys sat down behind her, wrapping her arms tightly around her waist. Undyne blushed a bit as she put the keys in the ignition. Gripping the handles, she revved the engine before peeling out with a screech.

Due to everyone's hard work, the restrictions on monsters had been lifted. Undyne and Alphys had decided to take advantage of that and had booked a room at a hotel that had been recommended to Alphys when she had asked one of the soldiers about Japanese-themed places in the next town over.

“I'd wanted to ask if he watched anime, but he kept asking me questions about Mettaton,” she had said with a sigh when Undyne had asked her where she had gotten the information from.

Undyne had bristled.

“Want me to punch him out?”

“No! No punching the military.”

Undyne had huffed, lifting Alphys up to cuddle her possessively.

“Fine. I'll leave the loser with horrible taste alone.”

Alphys had laughed softly, kissing her cheek in thanks.

Blinking back to the present, Undyne pulled into the parking lot. The drive had been fine, if a little cold since it was not quite spring yet.

“...Alphys?” Undyne called out after it became apparent she wasn't moving. “Unless you want me to carry you, you gotta get off.”

“R-right, sorry!” Alphys scrambled off, blushing brightly. Undyne chuckled.

“No problem, babe.”

The name of the hotel--Higoi--was emblazoned on a sign above the front doors to the lobby, along with an artistic depiction of the name in kanji.

緋鯉 

Alphys had explained it would translate to “Golden Carp” in English. The name was appropriate, given the waterway filled with fish that paralleled the walls once they entered. The receptionist looked up as they entered. Her eyes widened, causing Undyne to narrow hers in turn, but she recovered and smiled at them before Undyne decided to do anything about it.

“Hello. Welcome to Higoi. How may I help you?”

Alphys stepped forward.

“H-hi, we have a reservation. Alphys and Undyne?”

The receptionist nodded.

“One moment.” She turned to her computer, clicking. After a moment, she found what she was looking for. “Yes, here you are. You booked the Crimson suite, correct?”

“Yes.”

“Alright,” she said, calling to a coworker. “This is Alice; she'll be showing you to your room. Do you have any luggage that needs to be brought in?”

“Nah, we're good,” Undyne said, waving away the question.

“Then please enjoy your stay.”

“I'm sure we will,” Undyne said with a smirk. Alphys' blush, which had been slowly fading away, came back with a vengeance.

“Undyne!” Alphys cried out.

“What? It's not like they don't know what's up,” Undyne said with a laugh as they followed Alice down a hallway.

“Still!” Alphys said as they stopped at a door.

“This is your room keycard,” she said, handing it over. “Feel free to make use of this room's private hot spring. Meals are served at seven in the morning, noon, and five in the afternoon. If you need anything, use the phone to call room service. Do you have any questions?”

“N-no, thank you, Alice,” Alphys demurred. Alice nodded to both of them, walking back towards reception as they entered their room.

“OH! Undyne, look! They have tatami!” Alphys flitted about the room, exclaiming about this and that. Undyne watched her with a smile. Those weekly jogs with Papyrus had really helped Alphys' self-confidence.

Listening to Alphys' excited chatter, Undyne thought about how far Alphys--everyone--had come in the year they had been on the surface. 

And how far their relationship had progressed.

She rubbed her hand reassuringly against her phone as she took off her jacket.

“So what do ya wanna do first?” Undyne asked once Alphys calmed down. Alphys looked around, then nodded decisively.

“Let's clean up. Then...try out the hot spring? T-together?” Alphys ventured shyly. Undyne grinned wolfishly.

“Hell yeah, now that's what I like to hear!”

\---

The room was a mix of American and Japanese fixtures. That extended to the bathroom. There was a huge hot tub, along with a shower. Since they were going to get into the hot spring, they decided to take a quick shower.

They glanced at each other out of the corners of their eyes. Alphys fidgeted. Undyne nervously scratched her cheek. While they had stolen moments with each other, living together with so many other people, they hadn't really had any privacy to go further.

Undyne gathered her courage and grinned at Alphys.

“Race ya!” she said, pulling her shirt off with one smooth movement. Alphys blushed, but gamely started undoing the ties on her vest. She slowed almost to a stop as Undyne pulled off her boots and shimmied out of her pants, leaving her in just her underwear, but she recovered her composure and pulled off her turtleneck and pants, leaving her in a similar state as Undyne. Alphys focused intently on folding her clothes. As she laid them next to Undyne's disheveled pile, Undyne's hand came into her field of vision, lifting her snout until she was gazing up at Undyne.

Who'd taken the time to strip completely naked.

“Looks like I win,” Undyne smirked, drawing closer.

“Um. Y-yes. You did,” Alphys stammered out, leaning forward.

“Then can I unwrap my prize?” Undyne drawled, eye serious. Alphys immediately nodded. Undyne slowly took off the rest of Alphys' clothing. Her hands sliding against her skin caused her to shiver. 

Something Alphys had noticed was that, like now, Undyne seemed less burdened without her eyepatch, hair down and soft smile on her lips. She lightly caressed the revealed scar, pressing a kiss to the area, before drawing Undyne into the shower with her, after they took their bathing supplies out of their inventories.

They focused on cleaning each other, interspersed with soft lingering touches.

When they were done, Undyne shut off the shower. She briskly dried herself off and put her hair up with a towel. Seeing Alphys was also finished, she grabbed her hand and drew her to the sliding door leading outside to their private hot spring.

Sinking down into the water, they both sighed in bliss. They were lucky that Mount Ebott had lava running so close to the surface; otherwise they would have had to travel farther in order to find a hotel with a hot spring.

After a moment, Undyne scooped Alphys up so she sat on her lap. Alphys rested her head against Undyne's chest, content. They had needed this vacation. She could feel things easing between them, clicking into place.

Alphys felt her conviction growing as she thought to what she had put into her inventory.

 _After dinner_ , she decided.

“It's almost time for dinner. Let's get out and put on our yukata,” Alphys murmured. Undyne roused from her drowsing state.

“Sure,” Undyne said, voice gravelly. She picked Alphys up and waded over to the edge, stepping out of the hot spring and over to where they had laid their towels.

Alphys took their yukata out from her inventory, dressing swiftly.

“Uh, a little help?” Undyne spoke up, holding her obi awkwardly. Alphys drew close and skillfully tying the obi in place, running her hand down Undyne's front to smooth the cloth.

“Thanks,” Undyne said with a grin.

“My pleasure,” Alphys replied with a quick smile, moving towards the door at the knock. Opening the door revealed Alice with a cart, which she wheeled inside. She started ferrying the dishes to the low table resting upon the tatami, encircled by cushions.

“Tonight's dinner consists of a small appetizer plate; suimono, a clear broth soup; sashimi, sliced raw carp; nimono, boiled seasonal vegetables; yakimono, grilled carp served in a sweet sauce; shrimp tempura; chawanmushi, a savory custard; sunomono, octopus with a vinegar sauce; rice; miso soup; tsukemono, pickled seasonal vegetables; and a strawberry parfait. All of the fish dishes are made with our signature golden carp. And here is your pot of green tea. Do you need anything else?”

“No, this is perfect! Thank you, Alice,” Alphys said brightly, sitting at the table, Undyne following suit.

“Your welcome. Enjoy your meal. Oh, and cute yukata,” she said, eyeing Alphys' wisteria-on-green and Undyne's red plum blossom-on-black with appreciation before leaving with a bow.

\---

“Damn, that was good,” Undyne said, leaning backward, palms braced against the floor. Alphys nodded rapidly.

“Yes! It was wonderful! Though I noticed you had a little trouble with the chopsticks,” Alphys teased. Undyne grinned sharply.

“That's alright. I've always been good with spears--and spearing things,” she said slyly. The plate Alphys had been stacking clinked loudly against the other as she fumbled it.

“Oh, and I told myself I wouldn't react like this anymore,” Alphys moaned, hiding her brightly blushing face in her hands.

“Your reaction is so cute, though.”

Alphys just shook her head, before looking up.

_This is it._

“I've got something for you,” Alphys and Undyne said at the same time.

There was a beat of silence.

“You g-go first!” Alphys blurted.

Undyne shook her head.

“Nah. How about we go at the same time?”

After a moment of thought, Alphys nervously nodded.

“On three, then. One, two, three-”

With a muted flash of light, two items dropped down onto the table. On Undyne's side was a piano key, the once-pristine ivory darkened by fire. Alphys' side had some kind of identification badge.

Alphys covered her mouth with her hands.

“I-is that...?”

“Yeah. Yours?”

“Y-yes!”

“Then: Alphys, will you live with me until I turn to dust?” Undyne said, offering her item.

“Yes!” Alphys offered her item in return as the items exchanged hands.

Then she burst into tears.

“Whoa, what's wrong!?” Undyne exclaimed. Alphys shook her head, dashing away her tears.

“I'm just. So happy. I never t-thought it was possible, a-and now my dream has come true!”

Her smile was beautiful.

“I love you.”

Undyne felt her control snap. Surging to her feet, she swept Alphys into her arms and made her way to the bedroom.

“U-Undyne!” Alphys squeaked as she clutched at Undyne's shoulders. The sound was not helping Undyne control herself.

“Unless you want to be taken right here, stop being so damn cute!”

There was a surprised sniffle. Undyne carried her swiftly for a few more moments before Alphys wiggled in her hold until she could hook her snout against her shoulder.

“I wouldn't mind if you did,” Alphys mumbled. Undyne knew she was blushing by the heat she could feel radiating from her.

“Ngahhh! I would! You're mine now! And I take care of what's mine!”

“...like your house?”

“Did you just SASS me!?”

“...Maybe?”

Dropping her unceremoniously onto the bed allowed her to see the smile Alphys had been hiding.

“Oh, it's on now!” Undyne growled, crawling on top of her. Her hand was gentle as she wiped away the remainder of Alphys' tears, before she leaned down to trace the path they had taken with her tongue.

Alphys sighed, lacing her hands behind Undyne's head, tail curling around Undyne's obi and pulling it undone with a tug. Undyne nipped her throat in retaliation, hand grabbing Alphys' obi and returning the favor. Undyne drew back slightly to admire the sight, before hovering her hand over Alphys' chest.

“We goin' all the way?” Undyne asked, voice having dropping a few octaves due to lust. Alphys trailed one of her hands down the side of Undyne's neck to hover her hand over Undyne's chest in a mirror of Undyne. Undyne shivered at the sensation.

“Please.”

Alphys' voice was a soft plea full of wonder. With a nod, they both pulled-

-and their souls appeared in the space between them. The light they gave off shone brightly and pulsed, and as they drew closer together, the pulses synced until they were beating as one.

Their souls touched.

“Fuck!” Undyne groaned, collapsing. Alphys panted as their souls rubbed against each other, pearlescent liquid starting to dribble down onto Alphys' stomach.

“'Dyne. So good,” Alphys moaned, shifting her soul to press more firmly against Undyne's. Undyne gasped, pressing kisses everywhere she could reach, before locking lips with Alphys in a deep kiss. Their souls curled and twisted against each other, growing brighter as they continued to dance, until their souls crescendoed with a bright explosion, splattering both of them with gleaming liquid.

Undyne came down from her bliss to hear Alphys whispering sweet nothings into her ear, hand trailing up and down her spine. Undyne shuddered, before gently releasing her hold on Alphys' soul. Alphys stirred, becoming more aware, drawing slightly away with a sigh and releasing her hold on Undyne's soul. After their souls returned, Undyne rolled onto her side, pulling Alphys over to spoon her.

“You okay?” Undyne asked quietly. Alphys settled herself firmly against her.

“Perfect.”

\---

Alphys woke to see her bonding gift being flipped over by Undyne.

“Sorry. Did I wake you?”

Alphys shook her head, brushing her fingers against Undyne's arm in reassurance.

“No. What are you looking for?”

“Nothing, just. We kinda skipped the step where we tell each other about the history of our gift,” Undyne said, sheepish. Alphys chuckled softly.

“This is the badge I received when I became a Royal Scientist. I was so happy to become an apprentice...”

“Huh? Apprentice to who?”

“No one important.”

“Right.”

“...What about yours?” Alphys asked after shaking off Undyne's question. Undyne laughed.

“One of the keys from my old piano. It was the only thing of it I was able to salvage after my house burnt down. Asgore gave it to me once I'd finished doing my community service, saying he hoped it would keep me out of trouble.”

Alphys turned around in Undyne's grip to take in her expression.

“Do you miss it?”

“Heck yeah! I've been waiting until we got more room so I could get another one. And then the whole island thing came up and I figured I might as well wait if we're gonna move again.” 

“Yeah. It's going to be amazing.”

“With you working on it, I KNOW it will.” Undyne squeezed Alphys in emphasis.

“Thank you,” Alphys said softly, before changing the subject. “I got recommended an anime that they thought both of us would like, want to watch it?”

“Does it have fighting?”

“Yes.”

“Fuck yeah! Let's do it!”

And as Alphys started the first episode of Akatsuki no Yona, she couldn't help but be happy about how her life had turned out. It had been hard, and she'd almost given up numerous times, but she acknowledged that all her desperate struggles had been worth it if it had led her to here, resting within the circle of Undyne's arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The thing I love most about soul sex-or monster sex in general-is that the magic dissipates over time. Which means you never have to deal with clean-up and soiled sheets.
> 
> Also, the bonding gift exchange was what I came up with as the monster custom for asking someone to marry them. Rings didn't seem right, considering the huge disparity between body types. But once monsters die, their dust is put on their favorite thing. So giving that gift to someone signifies, "I want to spend the rest of my life with you."
> 
> I'm still debating over what Toriel and Asgore gave each other, and what happened to the items when they divorced.


	6. Interlude: Perserverance - B00.6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "One who knows nothing can understand nothing." --Ansem

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally figured a way out of the corner I'd written myself into, so I'll be working on the outline of the rest of this fic first so that doesn't happen again. In the meantime I'll be showing the fates of the human souls.

“GEEEEEEERSOOOOOON!”

Gerson looked up from the map he'd been pouring over to see one of the new recruits come barreling into his command tent, bringing along a small wave of rainwater.

“Is it true? Has a human appeared?” She demanded, striding over to the table and roughly squeezing in-between his officers with whom he had been discussing tactics.

One of them made move to remove her from the tent, but halted at Gerson's chuckle.

“Undyne, was it? Nothing wrong with being feisty, but one wrong move could result in a lot of people's deaths; so calm down and follow my orders, yeah?”

Undyne blushed, but nodded sharply. Gerson grinned.

“Alright, I'll go ahead and recap. The Snowdin Sentries sent word of a human-sighting, but were unable to capture it; seems to be a tricksy one. They have confirmed that it entered Waterfall, though. I've already sent word for them to cordon off the path back to Snowdin. My squad will be systematically searching Waterfall by sections as well as evacuating the citizens. Undyne, you'll be with Riddle's squad cordoning off Waterfall on this side. I've heard good things about your magic, so prove it by protecting the residents of Hotland.”

“Yessir!” Undyne snapped out, before following the madjick out of the tent.

His other officer popped a question.

“Hmm? Oh, she's just a tad bit enthusiastic. Reminds me of a certain someone when they first joined, eh, Grillby?”

Gerson cackled at the flame monster's sharply crackled reply, slapping his back as he made his way out of the tent.

“Right, right, I'm sure I just imagined all those experiments you and your squad got up to back in the day.”

Gerson's grin widened as he heard the woosh of flames rising.

“Now come on--time to earn our pay.”

\---

Three hours later, Gerson was searching through the darkening lantern room when he heard the grass rustle.

He stilled, and waited.

And waited.

His patience was rewarded by a sudden flurry of rustling.

He cut off its escape by stepping into its path and trapping it in an encounter.

If it was just a panicked citizen, he'd end the encounter and direct them to the nearest evacuation point.

But if it wasn't...

The cloaked figure backed up to the edge of the encounter, clearly trying to escape. They shook their head, clutching something to their chest.

The figure's soul confirmed his suspicions--it glowed a deep purple.

It was the human.

Eyes hardening, he summoned a ring of hammers to encircle them before sending them spinning inward.

It was something he'd learned during the war--never give a human a chance.

Hit hard, hit fast, show no mercy.

The human tried to dodge the sudden onslaught, but not quickly enough.

They cried out as a hammer slammed into their side with a crunch, another sending them flying with a snap into another, which hammered them into the ground with a crash.

The human sobbed, curling into a ball. They struggled to rise, hood falling, only to stop and stare in despair at the circle of hammers rotating around them.

The hammers descended.

The human shrieked.

The human fell silent.

The human fell still.

Letting his hammers wink out of existence, Gerson ended the encounter and cautiously approached.

He stared at the human blankly before shutting his eyes, face grim. 

“Another damn kid.”

Opening his eyes, he crouched down and gently lifted the human's soul away from them and set it aside.

Then he set to searching the body.

A few gold, some candy, a pair of glasses...

A notebook.

Opening it, he frowned, tracing a blunt nail down the page.

“Not English...” he muttered, flipping it closed.

He went to set everything by the soul when he hesitated.

With the new Royal Scientist recently instated, he knew what would happen--everything would be studied and dissected in the hopes of breaking the barrier.

And that would be a good thing for the monsters trapped underground.

But.

Gerson slipped the notebook into his inventory, impulsively nabbing the glasses as well, before calling his men.

\---

Gerson had almost finished boxing the last of his things when he heard a knock at his door.

“Do you need any help?”

Gerson huffed, flapping his hand at Asgore.

“I may be retiring, but I'm not dead yet.”

Asgore chuckled, staring wistfully around the room.

“Of course. It will be different, not having you as Captain of the Royal Guard anymore.”

“Give it a few years; there's a promising future-Captain in the ranks. Bit hotheaded though.”

“Oh? You wouldn't happen to be talking about a certain recruit that attacked me recently, would you?”

“Sounds like her,” Gerson laughed, before growing serious. He shuffled over to his desk before picking something up and handing it to Asgore.

“Thanks for letting me hold onto it for awhile.”

Asgore accepted the purple soul with a solemn nod.

“How could I deny a request from a hero, not to mention an old friend?”

“A 'hero', huh?” Gerson snorted. “Still, I 'preciate it. I know we didn't always see eye-to-eye. Don't you forget to visit my shop, now!” 

Asgore smiled.

“Certainly.”

\---

And so time passed, and Gerson settled into the rhythm of life in Waterfall. He stocked his store and whiled away his time.

Sometimes he would help with the search through the dump, and sometimes he would find something useful.

Like the books he'd found, written in the same language as the notebook he'd kept all this time.

And as he deciphered the notebook, he learned about a quiet girl. 

Who'd loved books and her family--a family that had been on the run from being imprisoned in a 'camp'.

He learned about her hopes and dreams.

About her likes and dislikes.

She became a person in his eyes.

He thought back to her screams.

He avoided the lantern room.

\---

Years later, he stared into the bright, determined eyes of another human-

-and decided to put two more items up for sale.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A lot of fun little references here. I pulled from a lot of the game's text; it's really interesting what you can glean when you look at what people say during both the True Pacifist and Genocide Runs.
> 
> Ah, and the usage of the pronoun 'it' when referencing the human was intentional. It's a common tactic of military units, to dehumanize the enemy in order to make them easier to kill.
> 
> Also, I'd just like to say that Gerson lives up to his name of The Hammer by deciding to bludgeon me with a completely different version of this chapter than what I'd originally planned. I definitely like this version better, but geez, give a person some warning, yeah?


	7. Interlude: Bravery - B00.3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "We all have our reasons for what we've done." --Yuri Lowell

In the middle of the night, snow drifted softly down to blanket the town of Snowdin. Snowflakes flitted like fairies through the glow of the lights strung across various eaves.

The snow crunched satisfyingly underfoot as he made his way towards the center of town, where stood an enormous tree, festively decorated with lights and ornaments.

A large figure stood, carefully removing items from a bag to lay them at the base of the tree.

With the bright red white-trimmed suit, black boots and belt, he couldn't help but blurt out:

“Santa?”

\---

Asgore froze, caught, before recovering. He turned around with a booming laugh, prepared to play his role, only for his laughter to slowly fade away as he looked down at the obviously human child. He watched as wonder changed to confusion, disappointment, before settling on suspicion.

“You're not Santa.”

“...No, I am not,” he said haltingly, preparing himself to play a much less jolly role.

The child's gaze wandered over his features.

“You look like Toriel.”

“She was my queen. I am Asgore.”

Eyes narrowed.

“You made Toriel cry.”

The child scowled, pointing up at him

“Toriel told me about you. Fight me. If I win, you're gonna apologize to her. And if you win, I'll give you my soul.”

Asgore flinched, a strange mixture of respect and sorrow flowing through him.

Here before him stood a bright soul who cared for Toriel.

And now he was going to have to snuff that light out.

He inclined his head solemnly.

“So be it,” he intoned, and with a wave of his materializing trident, they were surrounded by the black bubble of their encounter.

The child slammed his gloved fists together and charged, orange soul lighting his path.

\---

“Hah, hah, hah.”

The child panted shallowly, examining the weapon Asgore held against his throat, looking for any way out of their stalemate, before, with an explosive sigh, he collapsed backwards and landed on the ground with a puff of upflung snow.

“Maaaan, I lost,” he complained, eyes closed.

His eyes, when they opened, were without any of the fear or hate Asgore had expected. They were instead filled with a calm acceptance as he gazed up at him.

“Alright, you win. My soul is yours.”

Asgore nodded, slowly easing out of his battle-ready stance.

“Toriel said once you gathered enough souls, you'd free the monsters and go to war with humans. Is that true?”

Asgore knelt beside the child.

“I must think of my people. Everything I do is for their hope and happiness.”

“...Maybe you are Santa.”

Asgore watched, surprised, as the child removed his gloves and bandanna. 

“These are my treasures.”

He offered them up to Asgore, eyes bright.

“Give 'em to someone who'll like them.”

Asgore swallowed, pushing down his rising emotions, suppressing tears.

“I will.”

Asgore reached out and carefully took the items. As he did, he noticed something on the palms of the child's hands. Frowning, he carefully captured one hand and peered at it.

“What is this?”

A wound stood out starkly against his skin, almost like it was emblazoned.

 _No_ , he realized with growing horror. _Not almost._

It was a brand.

The child shrugged, slowly slipping his hand out of his hold.

“Can you promise me something?”

“I...will do what I can,” Asgore said, off-balance.

“When you reach the surface, kill the bad people first, okay?”

Taking Asgore's stunned silence as agreement, the child nodded firmly.

“Okay, I'm ready now.”

Asgore forced himself to move his frozen form and raise his trident, eyes locked with the child's own.

“Goodbye.”

He plunged his trident down.

The snow was stained red.

\---

“Mom, mom, look what Santa brought me!”

The bunny child excitedly hopped around her, gleefully showing off the items.

“Very nice, dear,” she said with a smile.

\---

Viola moved down the warren's hall to her last stop, box in one hand as she knocked on the door to her nephew's room.

“Recycle Day! Anything for the store?”

“Yeah, Aunty, one sec.”

She heard rustling, then the door opened. Her nephew handed over some items, worn yet obviously cared for over the years.

“These.”

“Okay, thank you, hun.”

Walking back through the underground corridor, Viola popped back up into her store and sat the box on the counter.

The box was filled with various items: various clothes, some books, a few wooden handcrafts, a couple toys.

And on top laid a pair of gloves and a bandanna.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Viola is the name of my Snowdin Shopkeeper, btw! I took a look at the complete map of Snowdin, and I just really liked the idea that there were a series of tunnels connecting all of the rabbit monsters' residences and businesses together.
> 
> And Recycle Day was something I came up with after thinking about recycling, hand-me-downs, Goodwill, and secondhand stores, and how that would translate for the monsters' situation underground; how they couldn't afford to waste anything.


	8. Interlude: Kindness - B00.5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I choose my own way to burn.” --Sophie Scholl

The beginning started with his quest to create a new recipe. Armed with only a few essential tools and his favorite cooking pan, he roamed the forest surrounding Mount Ebott, hoping to find some new ingredient to revolutionize his cooking.

Instead he found a hole, fear, and darkness.

He was in pain when he came to. Concussed, almost certainly. Stumbling, he made his way deeper into the cavern.

“Ribbit.”

Leaning heavily on the wall, he blinked down at the frog that had appeared before him.

His thoughts were fragmented, but he blearily thought that this frog looked different.

The world shuddered, bleeding to black as a brilliant burst of green light coalesced in front of him.

Alarmed, he stumbled backwards and fell.

“Ribbit!”

His attention snapped back to the frog.

A swarm of flies had come out of nowhere and were heading right towards him.

He tried to scramble backwards, but the swarm focused on the green light hanging in the air. 

They surrounded it.

He cried out in pain, stars bursting across his vision.

When they cleared, he noticed the frog had hopped closer.

Frantically, he gripped his pan and threw it with all his might at the attacking animal. The exertion caused the low-level nausea he had been feeling to surge, saliva flooding his mouth before he heaved out the contents of his stomach.

Panic filled him, knowing he was an easy target.

But nothing happened.

Looking up through tear-filled eyes, he saw his pan lying in a pile of dust.

The frightening darkness had disappeared, along with the frog and the green light.

Confusion and pain mounting, he passed out.

\---

His thoughts were muddled when he woke once again.

He wrinkled his nose.

Gagging, he rolled himself out of his vomit.

Gathering himself, he pushed himself upright, swaying.

Moving despite his trembling limbs, he crawled over to his pan.

He faceplanted right into the pile of dust when he attempted to pick it up.

Expecting a horrid taste, he was stunned at the fizzing, popping sensation that overcame his taste buds.

It reminded him of a new drink that had recently been invented.

Wondering if it was a fluke, he cautiously licked up more of the dust.

The taste filled his mouth again.

He had found it!

He sat up with a whoop, before realizing that all the pain he had been in had disappeared. Confused, he slowly stretched. Not even a twinge disrupted his movements.

He regarded the dust.

Then he pulled out a container with a flourish and began to gather it.

\---

The cavern he was in gave way to ruins.

He was more fixated on all the frogs he was finding.

As soon as he saw one, he would crush it with his pan. He regretted using it as a weapon, but he didn't have anything better.

At first, he had only killed them because they were dangerous.

Then he found out they were the source of the dust.

He was slightly confused, but he focused on collecting as much of the dust as possible. He would need a large amount for all his cooking experiments once he got home.

\---

“Hello there.”

Startled, he flinched backwards, raising his pan in defense.

A figure stepped out of the shadows, hands raised.

“Please be at ease. I mean you no harm.”

Stunned, his arm slowly dropped to his side as he took in the sight of the humanoid talking animal in front of him.

It smiled.

“I am Toriel. It is nice to meet you, child.”

\---

“...Then, those weren't frogs?”

“Yes, exactly. A Froggit is indeed similar in appearance to frogs, but they are a monster, just as I am.” 

“...S-so, you're saying...they're sentient?”

“Of course. Though they cannot speak any human tongues, they can communicate using their own language. All monsters are capable of intelligent thought on par with humans.”

“...Oh.”

The container filled with dust that he carried seemed to burn him.

\---

With a scream, he tumbled from his bed and slammed into the ground. Hurried footsteps sounded before his door opened.

“Are you alright!?”

Kneeling by his side, Toriel worriedly gathered him into her arms.

The pressure that had been building over the course of his stay with Toriel hit its limit.

He let out a sob, clutching Toriel.

“I'm sorry! I can't-I don't want to stay here anymore! Please, how can I get back home?”

Toriel's hold tightened.

“I do not want you to go.”

“Please.”

“It is dangerous.”

“Toriel.”

“All that awaits you outside the Ruins is death!”

He couldn't respond in the face of Toriel's uncharacteristic outburst.

Toriel sighed, slumping.

“And even so, still you want to go. Just like all the others before you.”

Rising, Toriel stood him on his feet.

“Gather your things.”

Pulling on his clothes, he quickly collected everything he owned; Toriel motioned for him to follow her down the stairs and through a hallway until they stood before a door.

“Beyond this door lies your way. Continue until you reach the Barrier that entraps us here. There you must choose.”

Toriel opened the door.

“Go. Stay safe. Protect your soul.”

\---

The moment he stepped outside the Ruins, he thought he was home again.

Until he looked up and saw rock instead of sky.

Still, he had grown up in this kind of terrain. He knew how to ghost through the vast expanse of forest unseen, a silent shadow that left no trace through leaf or snow.

His nightmares grew worse.

\---

The forest gave way to another system of caves.

He was too tired to appreciate the beauty of the place.

He couldn't sleep anymore; he didn't want to see those images he saw every time he closed his eyes.

Shadows flickered in the corners of his eyes.

Then, they suddenly engulfed him. His soul materialized as he noticed the monster that had appeared before him.

He remembered Toriel's teachings.

“Hello,” he said, hesitantly waving.

The monster frowned, the lever on their side spinning faster, agitating the liquid inside their body.

“Your soul is unclean.”

“Wha-?”

An object hurtled towards him; he ducked, only to realize too late that the object was leaving a trail of pearlescent bubbles in its wake.

The bubbles hit his soul and exploded like a flash bomb.

He cried out.

Blindly, he took off running, trying to escape. He ran until he found a place he could hide, before he collapsed, heaving for air.

From then on, he immediately fled if any monster caught him in an encounter.

His nightmares and guilt, though, could not be escaped from so easily.

They haunted him.

\---

He sat, slumped, on the edge of the cliff, legs dangling. Bursts of light and shadow played across his face as he watched the molten lava move sluggishly below him.

A voice sounded from behind him:

“Howdy.”

He turned.

A monster stood within the camp he had set up, near where he had set up his pan over a fire.

From the monster's crown and appearance, he recognized them from what Toriel had told him of the King.

“You must be Asgore,” he commented, standing to face him. “Have you come for my soul?”

“I have.”

They were plunged into darkness, his faded soul a faint glow around him.

Asgore's weapon gleamed, strong and crimson.

He laughed humorlessly.

“I see. So this is the end, huh?”

He closed his eyes.

“'You always have a choice'. Funny, what runs through your mind when you're going to die. I've been running for awhile now.”

He opened his eyes.

“At this point, I'm just...tired.”

He tipped himself backward.

Asgore lunged towards him, huge palm grabbing onto his soul and a fistful of his clothes.

He had a moment to take in the expression on Asgore's face, before the ties on his apron came undone, and he fell.

There was a crack, the sound of shattering.

\---

Asgore watched as the light in the human's eyes faded as he unintentionally tore their soul from their body.

The body hit the lava far below.

Flames engulfed them.

Asgore watched as the body slowly charred to nothing.

His fist clenched around the soul, before he slowly relaxed his hold.

The apron fluttered to the ground.

“Are they dead?”

Asgore turned slightly and nodded at the monster that walked up to stand beside him.

“Muffet.”

“Pity,” she drawled, peering down. “I was hoping to experiment.”

She wandered over to the human's camp, lifting up the pan.

“Poo. It's burnt.”

She dropped the pan carelessly.

“Come on, dears. Looks like there's no spoils to be had here.”

Muffet waved delicately as she led the swarm of spiders away.

“Tata~” She tittered.

Asgore sighed deeply, before he made his way home.

\---

Remaining Souls Needed To Break The Barrier: **Three**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a fierce debate with myself over how human souls work once they are outside of a person's body. In the end, I chose to interpret the white box that surrounds Frisk's soul during encounters to mean there was a set limit to how far a soul could go from their body. So Kindness falling caused the link between his body and soul to shatter, effectively killing him. Other options included: there being no limit to how far it can go (which would have had Kindness screaming in agony as he burned to death); there being a tether between soul and body only broken by death (causing Kindness's body to hilariously hang in midair, and then awkwardness, because Asgore saved him just to kill him. AKA the "Kill Them With Kindness" route).


	9. Interlude: Justice - B00.7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.”--Morpheus

“Oi! Nerds! What's the holdup?” Undyne called as she strode into The Lab, spear swinging by her side suffusing her in a continuous mist to combat the heat.

One of the Royal Scientist's hands appeared before her and beckoned her to follow. It led her down into one of the deeper levels of the lab, before leading her into a room filled with activity.

It dove towards the monster standing in the middle of the room, directing everyone, and joined the other orbiting hands.

“No, leave that here; the results will be compromised otherwise. Ah? Oh, yes, hello, Undyne, we've nearly finished here,” Gaster said distractedly.

Undyne sighed explosively, crossing her arms.

“ _Nearly_ finished, huh? And what are you gonna do if the human makes its way here while you all are taking your sweet time? Tell it, 'Oh, don't mind us, nothing to see here'?”

“I'm not sure how viable of a strategy that would be. Though have reports come in yet about the human? Perhaps if they are exceedingly dumb, or their senses extraordinarily poor, we can release this plan to the general populous as a safety precaution.”

Undyne slapped a hand to her face; one of Gaster's assistants sniggered in the background.

“I was being sarcastic, Gas.”

“Huh? Oh. Yes, I see. You're...quite the wit.” Gaster laughed awkwardly, his hands momentarily freezing in their movements.

“And I sent some of my men towards the Ruins, but they haven't reported in, so I'm heading over there once I've dealt with you civvies,” Undyne said, grimacing. “All we know about it is from its phone call to Asgore, where it declared that we 'would pay'.”

“Ominous...where is Asgore?”

“I convinced him to let me take the lead on this one. I told him to guard the barrier 'cause he's a big weenie!” Undyne guffawed.

Gaster smiled wryly.

“Not...quite the word I'd use to describe our king. But, in any case.” Gaster raised his voice slightly. “Good job, everyone, we're finished here. Group up; we'll be leaving for the shelter momentarily.”

“Gaster, the DT,” someone called.

“Ah! Yes, thank you, I'd nearly forgotten.”

Gaster glided towards Undyne, hands trailing in his wake.

“Here.”

He offered her a vial filled with crimson liquid.

Undyne squinted at it.

“What's this?”

“Something we've been working on after Asgore gave us permission to experiment with the human souls. We extracted and distilled the essence of what makes humans so powerful--their will to live; Determination, or DT for short. We wanted to help however we could once we heard about the human.”

“Sweet! So it's a power-up! Not that I'll need it, since I'm already so strong, but you nerds do good work!”

“Of course.”

Gaster hesitated, before one of his hands patted her shoulder briefly.

“I'll see you later.”

Undyne recognized it for what it was--a leader's attempt to project confidence in order to reassure his subordinates.

Undyne grinned widely, razor-sharp teeth on full display.

“You better believe it!” 

\---

It's as she was making her way through the Dump that her instincts screamed at her.

She jumped backwards.

A bullet slammed into the ground just in front of her.

“Tch.”

A figure stepped out of the shadows, gun in hand.

“You must be the human.”

“And you must be the fearsome Captain all those monsters were going on about.”

Undyne jerked.

 **“What did you do to my men!?”** She snarled.

“The same thing that'll happen to you if you get in my way like they did.”

For an instant, everything paused.

Then.

Undyne roared, dragging its soul into an encounter.

It shot.

Undyne felt her eye fracture as the bullet tore through her. 

Her body started to follow. 

Her mind rebelled.

_”...their will to live...”_

She grasped the vial and chugged.

She screamed.

Pain, or heat, or pressure, or light--the sensations radiated through her, concentrating on her eye. She couldn't make sense of what was happening, like all her senses had suddenly failed her, or she had gained another sense she'd never had before and had no clue how to interpret the information it was giving her.

Red.

Green.

Yellow.

Enemy.

She focused.

The human stood in front of her, gun raised.

She grabbed its soul, turned it green--and threw everything she had at it, howling.

Spears flew at it from all directions, but it blocked them all.

She forced her magic tighter, faster, _faster!_

Still it blocked, moving in a spiral.

A flash of inspiration.

She threw a barrage of spears at it.

It moved to block.

She twisted her magic at the very last second.

Her spears skewered it from behind, splattering the inside of its shield with red.

It staggered, fell to its knees.

It spit out more red.

“Ha. Knew she was full of shit. You're all monsters.”

It collapsed.

Undyne followed.

\---

Gaster leaned back from his inspection of Undyne's eye.

“You're amazingly lucky all you lost was an eye; your innate determination just barely equaled out the amount I gave you. If you had been any less determined, or if I had given you even a drop more DT, you'd be dust right now, or worse.”

Undyne grinned.

“It all worked out in the end. Hey! Now I can get an eyepatch like Captain Harlock!”

\---

Monsters are beings of light and magic. 

Our physical forms can't handle DT like humans' can.

Our bodies break down.

Like when you refract light, and it splits into a rainbow.

But humans' souls are different.

So what would happen if I take a human's soul and combine the different traits existing within it?

\---

ENTRY NUMBER SEVENTEEN  
DARK DARKER YET DARKER  
THE DARKNESS KEEPS GROWING  
THE SHADOWS CUTTING DEEPER  
PHOTON READINGS NEGATIVE  
THIS NEXT EXPERIMENT  
SEEMS  
VERY  
INTERESTING  
WHAT DO **YOU** THINK

\---

Remaining Souls Needed To Break The Barrier: **One**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And with this chapter done, I've got one human soul chapter left before I return to writing about the present and what's happening with Sans, Reader, and Toriel. And I've finished my outline for the rest of this fic, so pending any more surges of inspiration from new updates of TaoD, I know exactly how this fic ends.


	10. Interlude: Integrity - B00.4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “The ferryman asks a high price.” --Auron

She gasped excitedly at the long corridor before calming herself in order to take up her starting position. 

She closed her eyes in order to visualize her partner.

En pointe, she raised her arms in entreaty.

Her partner denied her and continued to walk the path ahead of her.

She ran and jumped, movements frenzied as she tried to catch up.

But her partner glided even faster away from her, movements dazzling.

Desperate, she danced moves in ever-increasing difficulty, hoping to catch her partner's attention.

Still her partner continued on, and with one grand jeté they disappeared into the darkness, leaving her to pose in an expression of despair. 

Her gleeful laughter pealed through the air at her success as she opened her eyes and pirouetted.

She stopped in demi-pointe as she took in her new surroundings.

“Whoa,” she whispered, awed.

Now that she wasn't focused on her dancing, all the sensations she'd been ignoring came pouring in.

The roar of the two waterfalls she found herself standing between.

The spray that lightly misted through the air.

The ghostly glow of the blue flowers and white sparkles.

The scent of water, dirt, and plantlife.

The whispering.

Looking over the edge of the waterfalls' second drop, she gasped at the starry sky reflected back at her.

Entranced, she continued to watch as the sky rippled and wavered.

Time seemed to skip.

She suddenly found herself joining the sky far below.

With a crash, she was surrounded by water.

She opened her mouth in surprise, water immediately rushing inside and filling her lungs.

She opened her eyes.

She floated in the darkness, faint light rippling far above her.

_Beautiful._

\---

The Riverperson turned around at the sound and movement of something hitting their boat.

Someone floated past.

 _A body_ , they corrected themself once they had pulled it from the river.

 _A human_ , they realized once they saw the glimmer of their blue soul. Gently, they pulled the soul away from the body and cupped it with both hands.

“Tra la la. A push or a fall?...Let's give the king a call.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thus concludes the Human Soul Interludes.
> 
> Writing the ballet was awesome; I love Rideback and Princess Tutu. Hm, trying to see if I can remember any other anime I've watched that contain ballet...I can't think of anymore right now.


	11. Unforeseen Consequences - D01

“We're going to have to ask you to come with us,” Shawn said, standing in front of a squad of men.

“What?” you asked, startled.

\---

“Did you hear? The Angel's human parent got arrested.”

“What!? Why?”

“No idea. But if the King and Queen are trying to free them, you know it's gotta be a misunderstanding.”

“Yeah! They were so nice when they came down to interview those of us still trapped underground, I can't imagine-” 

“...What's up?”

“No, I just thought I saw the ground trembling over there.”

\---

“There's **no** way they're a terrorist! They saved me!” Frisk cried, deeply upset.

Toriel smoothed her paw over Frisk's head, nodding.

“Everyone at this table agrees, Frisk. It is the human military that we must convince.”

Frisk glanced around and relaxed to see everyone nodding.

“Yes, they are too free with their emotions to be a spy like the military is suggesting,” Asgore said.

“W-why'd they even think that in the first place?” Alphys asked.

“apparently they've been communicating with someone on the mountain, but the messages have been encrypted and the military hasn't been able to locate the person they've been contacting,” Sans said, sliding the report over to Alphys.

Everyone pretended not to notice how tense Sans was.

Alphys frowned after looking at the messages.

“These aren't encrypted.”

“Whaddya mean?” Undyne leaned into Alphys' side to peer at the papers, causing her to blush.

“This is w-what happens w-when an outside system tries to parse a message that has been sent between a device with monster technology and one with human technology. It's not able to handle the information, so the message comes out corrupted.”

“And since the messages are from their monster phone, that means they're contacting someone with human technology,” Dolores deduced.

Everyone was silent for a moment.

“They received a package some time ago that contained a phone,” Mettaton said abruptly. “I remember, since I was the one who scanned it.”

“BUT WHY WOULD THEY NEED ANOTHER PHONE?” Papyrus asked, brow furrowed.

Frisk frowned, turning to look out the window at the mountain as they tried to think of a reason.

A window that was currently filled with a bobbing flower with a face.

A flower that jerked a leaf in summons before disappearing.

Frisk stared, before grinning fiercely.

\---

While not the most comfortable of accommodations, your current holding cell definitely could have been a lot worse. Still, being stuck here for the past week had taken its toll on you.

You wanted to go home.

Back to the people you lived with now.

Back to Sans.

You looked up as the door opened.

You couldn't prevent your eyes from widening slightly at the sight before you.

There stood a grinning Frisk, carrying a flower in a pot.

A very familiar, scowling flower. 

Recovering, you were cautious as you asked:

“Frisk?” 

Flowey scoffed.

“Can it. The jig is up. I can't _believe_ you forced me to come bail you out.”

You locked eyes with the flower, the monster, your friend.

“Then...”

Your smile was wobbly with relief.

“Flowey, I'm glad you came.”

“Yeah, yeah. Come on, let's go already.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Easing myself back into the present, albeit by way of an alternate timeline.
> 
> This was an idea I've had since Flowey was first introduced and Reader got the phone for him. I wondered how the security would be between Reader's monster phone and Flowey's human phone, whether the military would be able to intercept their messages due to the differing technology or if the monster phone would take care of everything or if Flowey did something on his end. And even though those questions were eventually answered, I still wanted to share this idea.
> 
> Then the more recent chapter happened where Shawn found the moles, and I realized that that would be the perfect time for these events to happen.


	12. An Island of Our Own Making - B03

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So going into the next part of this fic, there was a choice I had to make between sticking to the outline I had created versus abandoning my outline. This is because when I had first made the outline, a lot of the twists and revelations in These are our Days hadn't been revealed yet.
> 
> That's one of the reasons this was so long in coming. The other reason is some things happened. But I felt like working on this, so here we go.

The sun rose on the day that everyone would be deciding where they wanted to live on Ebott.

It had been a long-fought battle, but with everyone's help, the island plan had succeeded in becoming a reality. And though many names for the island were put forward, Ebott was the name chosen. The name carried with it the history of monsters. Though it wasn't long until the first Ebott settlement was called 'Land Ebott', and the island 'Sky Ebott'. You were never really sure how the naming convention came about, though you suspected Asgore had had some hand in it.

Now all that was left was designing everyone's dream homes.

You sat with everyone at the table, excitement filling the air as everyone tossed ideas out one after the other.

Undyne and Alphys sat next to each other to plan their house. They had slowly moved closer together over the course of the morning until they were practically cuddling.

You thought they were very cute together.

Dolores was out visiting Muffet to decide where their relationship was heading and what each of them wanted going forward.

Asgore was planning a modest house of his own. You suspected he had chosen to live alone rather than risk rejection if he had asked to live together with Toriel.

The situation with the rest of you had been thus: Frisk and Toriel wanted to live together, and you wanted to live with both of them. Both you and Toriel also wanted to live with Sans. Sans wanted to live with you and Toriel, but he had also wanted to live with his brother. Papyrus had declared the solution simple--he'd move in together with Sans.

“BUT I WANT ALL THE ROOMS SOUNDPROOFED SO I WON'T HAVE TO HEAR THE SOUNDS OF YOUR FURIOUS LOVEMAKING!”

“ _paps!_ ”

“I AM OF COURSE VERY HAPPY FOR YOU, BROTHER, BUT THAT IS JUST NOT SOMETHING I WISH TO EXPERIENCE.”

So all five of you were going to live together. Though the whole household would be living within the inner district of Ebott.

Looking around at the family you had made for yourself, you smiled.

\---

The sun touched the horizon, burning white and edging the clouds with gold. Ridges in the clouds above glowed brilliant pink, while the vallies were shaded a dark mauve. The clouds gradually changed from purple to a deep blue the farther away from the sun you looked.

The ocean below subtly echoed the sky above, the edges of the waves tinted gold and glittering.

It was so beautiful you had to take a moment from moving boxes to snap a few pictures.

This was the last round of supplies to be loaded onto Sky Ebott before your life among the clouds would begin.

You didn't want to miss a single moment.

\---

Papyrus and Undyne had taken Frisk around on a tour of Sky Ebott, to familiarize themselves with the layout of the island.

Seeing a map of Sky Ebott was different from physically walking the streets, after all. Though it would take them a fair few weeks before they had visited every district of the island, since there were so many.

Those on the monster's side had argued that each plate, each segment of the island should be able to be self-sufficient in the case of an attack or malfunction, and they had won.

Asgore had given a speech, giving everyone their options and the hazards that came with each. The island would move around the world, visiting each country that had expressed interest. Hospitals would be visited to treat patients in order to put the least amount of strain on them. This would be their main source of income until such a time as their other sources became a viable way to survive.

Sans and Alphys, along with the rest of their department, would continue to work on that issue. Which was what they were currently doing.

As Sky Ebott would literally be the monsters' flagship, it would need diplomatically important people. Thus why the whole household would be living on the island.

Monsters could choose to remain in Land Ebott and keep their homes and businesses as private property, but the land belonging to those who chose to move onto Sky Ebott would be slowly sold off to humans who expressed interest and were proven trustworthy. The military would continue to remain, establishing a base on land bequeathed to them.

In the end, some monsters did choose to stay in Land Ebott. The majority, however, decided to follow their rulers and the Angel.

\---

“ _OOOooh..._ right there, again, harder.”

Toriel laid before you on her bed, her exposed back an expanse of silky white fur that you brushed according to her instructions, gentle music playing in the background. 

Everything about the situation, including the dim lighting, created an intimate atmosphere.

It was the sounds Toriel was making that were making you all hot and bothered though. In the best way possible, of course; it was a sweet torture, made all the more exquisite by the mischief in Toriel's eyes when she glanced your way.

“What's wrong? Did you need some help?”

“Should you offer it, my lady, I shan't say no,” you replied laughingly, leaning forward to brush your hand against Toriel's back.

She shivered, and smiled.

\---

Though both you and Sans had your own room within the household, both of you had slowly migrated to sleeping with Toriel in her room.

It was comforting to be held by both of your loved ones while you slept.

Most of the time, it helped all of you sleep through the night.

Though tonight was not one of those times.

“Did you want some company?” You murmured as you felt Sans slip out of the bed. He gently ran his hand through your hair.

“nah, go back to sleep. i'm bed set on staying up for awhile.”

You snorted at the same time as Toriel, alerting you to the fact that she was awake as well.

“Wake us up if you want to pillow talk,” she requested, curling around your form.

You and Sans laughed.

“will do,” he agreed, running a finger gently down her snout.

\---

All of your original household was back together in Land Ebott for the day to celebrate the anniversary of the monster's freedom.

Specifically, all of you were waiting for the show to begin. After humans started moving into Land Ebott, it wasn't long before some enterprising humans and monsters put their heads together and created the first cross-species band. Underground Accent rocketed to fame and the rest was history.

The first strains of music began to play.

“Are you ready?”

The crowd roared its approval.

\---

Sans' jaw dropped, his face instantly flushing at the sight you and Toriel made lying next to each other on the bed in next to nothing.

The important part was that you were wearing matching knee-high socks.

You shared a grin with Toriel.

“So do you think he likes it?”

“I am not sure. What do you think?”

“Hmm, maybe?”

The banter snapped Sans out of his daze and with a growl he strode over to the bed.

“you two-!”

You laughed, reaching for him in unison with Toriel. Sans ends up in between you.

Sans' expression flipped into a soft grin.

“-are beautiful. teases, but beautiful.”

At that, you and Toriel wasted no time showing your appreciation.

\---

You were the first one up the next morning, and so, after a trip to the bathroom, you decide to make breakfast.

Frisk and Papyrus were already up and watching TV.

“Morning,” you called. “I'm making breakfast. Any requests?”

“Morning!” Frisk chirped. “Could you make omelets?”

“Sure. What about you, Paps?”

“GOOD MORNING! I WILL ALSO HAVE AN OMELET--CHEESE IF YOU PLEASE, NYEHEHEHEHE!”

Giggling at the rhyme, you saluted.

“Roger, captain.”

You were almost finished with breakfast when your happy focus was broken by a shout.

“Frisk! Papyrus!”

Alarmed, you shift everything off the burner and rush to the living room.

“This show is very inappropriate! Change the channel!”

Papyrus was peering at the TV through his fingers, blushing heavily.

You looked at the TV to see a children's show.

With sock puppets.

You slapped a hand over your mouth.

Frisk looked confused, before the situation slowly dawned on them.

As they scrambled for the remote, you lose your battle to keep your composure and screamed with laughter as you hang onto the couch for support.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been awhile, so I think I ended up playing a little fast and loose with Rehlia's in-universe rules, but eh, this is AU anyway, I'm content with how this came out.


	13. Betwixt the Sea and Stars - B04

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woot woot, gave myself a challenge to try to update this within the timeframe of Rehlia's normal update schedule (i.e. one week), and I was successful!
> 
> *confetti*
> 
> Motivation Train is chugging along.

It was cold and overcast the morning you decided to visit your mother's grave. You made sure your hood and scarf completely hid your appearance--you were in no mood to be recognized by the masses.

You lost yourself in your thoughts.

A lot of things had happened since Sky Ebott had taken to the skies.

Good things, like Undyne and Alphys getting married.

Bad things, like the grave that lay before you.

And things that transcended easily-made labels, like the revelation of all of the secrets that everyone had been hiding.

Sans still winced whenever the topic was brought up and he thought back to your initial reaction.

It had taken time, but you had all moved through it--together. 

“hey.”

Sans stepped up beside you, similarly bundled up to hide his appearance.

He held out his hand.

“ready to go?”

You smiled faintly.

“Yeah. Let's go home. I've got something I want to talk to you about.”

“yeah?”

“Yeah, I wanted your help with something I wanted to do for Tori...”

\---

Sky Ebott had grown prosperous in the years since it had been built, and the science department had followed suit until creating specific departments had been discussed.

And Sans had been nominated to lead the newly-established space program.

Which had been a dilemma; Sans didn't want to lead.

He had wanted to explore the stars, push his limits and see how far he could go.

So he had asked for help from an old friend.

“hey, so i know you'd rather continue gathering moss, but i'm between a rock and a hard place here. help me rock the world?”

“ **...Always with the puns.** ”

“heh, i'll wear you down someday.”

“ **...Today is not that day. But explain...what do you need help with?** ”

“right, so we're making a space program, gonna split one of the plates off and open it up to any human or monster that passes the prerequisites, and i've been nominated to lead it.”

“ **...And?** ”

“and i'd really rather not. so i was hoping you'd do it in my stead. you've got more than enough experience for it from your past helping the head scientist.”

“ **...Sans.** ”

“yeah?”

“ **...Do you fear it?** ”

“heh, you can still see through me clear as quartz.”

“ **...Then...this I will do for you. In repayment for hiding me all these years.** ”

“aw, thanks bud, 'preciate it-”

“Sans?”

“uh.”

“...Are you talking to your pet rock?”

“...yes?”

“ _Your pet rock's alive!?_ ”

“his name's hallsteinn, actually.”

“...Oh my god.”

“ **...Young Lady-** ”

“ _...Oh my god._ ”

“ **-I assure you that Sans placed me most carefully in order not to infringe upon anyone's privacy.** ”

“yeah, that's why i made him a nice nest in my closet.”

“...Sans.”

“yeah?”

“I'm gonna go get a drink.”

“ok?”

“And then, once everyone gets home, we're all gonna sit down and talk about this.”

“got it.”

Sans watched you leave his room before he turned to Hallsteinn.

“welp, think we hit rock bottom?”

“ **...Sans. Instead of thinking of puns, you should be thinking of how you are going to explain this.** ”

“...heart of stone, hallsteinn. heart of stone.”

\---

In hindsight, Sans should have realized that you would get your revenge.

_you busy?_

_nah, we're just researching. why?_

_i made a playlist, but i'm not sure if it'll send the right message. could you listen to it and tell me what you think?_

_sure._

_playlist101.m3u received._

Sans started the playlist and--

“You light the skies up above me. A star so bright you blind me, yeah.”

\--started playing from his phone. He felt his face flush as he raced to turn off the music under the curious eyes of his coworkers.

_btw i got some help from alphys. enjoy! ;)_

**Phone Locked. Time Remaining: 00:28.43**

Groaning, he hid his face in his hands as the music played on.

“ **...Sans.** ”

“yeah boss?”

“ **...Go listen to that somewhere else.** ”

“thanks boss.”

Sans teleported to his lab in Snowdin just in time to hear--

“-I Brazilian wax poetic, so pathetically, I don't wanna beat around the bush. Foxtrot Uniform Charlie Kilo-”

\--yep, definitely revenge.

\--

Everyone had decided that you got to pick this year's theme for their Halloween costumes.

Sans stared at the costume you had given him before shrugging and putting it on. 

Knocking on the bathroom door, he called your name, then entered when you called him inside.

“Did it fit okay?” you asked as you applied a mustache to your face.

“yeah, it's fine,” he drawled lazily, leaning against the doorframe. You stopped when you saw him in the mirror, before groaning and hiding your face in your hands.

“Fuck, Toriel was right,” you mumbled.

“about what?”

You looked back up, swirled around and stalked over to him before you pulled him flush against you and leaned forward to scrape your teeth lightly against his temporal bone before you whispered:

“That you'd look hot in a dress.”

He shivered at the appreciation in your voice.

You pulled back a little.

“Are you okay with going outside in it, though? We made you another costume just in case.”

He shrugged with a grin.

“eh, it's fine. new pun territory. it's like magic.”

You snorted.

\---

Your household arrived at the plaza where the main Halloween celebration was taking place.

“Looks like everyone went all out,” you said, looking at all the costumes and decorations.

“WE'RE GOING TO WIN, THOUGH. AFTER ALL, YOU'VE GOT THE GREAT PAPYRUS ON YOUR TEAM!” Papyrus posed, showing off his legs in his short shimmery blue dress and leggings. His fairy wings fluttered, leaving sparks of light in their wake.

“'course we are, bro,” Sans agreed. He was dressed in a similarly-short green dress, and was also sporting fairy wings.

“Tick tock. The costume contest's not till nine, though,” you said, brandishing your hook in their direction playfully.

“Then let us-I mean-ahem-let's take a proper tour o' the place,” Toriel said with a pirate accent, adjusting her glasses with a giggle.

“Can I go find my friends?” Frisk pleaded.

“Do you remember how to get to them?” You asked with a smile.

Frisk grinned impishly, before striking a pose.

“'Second star on the right, and straight on till morning!'”

You laughed.

“Alright, Peter. Go find your Lost Boys.”

Frisk hugged you and raced off into the crowd.

“WELL, I'M OFF TO SHOWER THE MASSES WITH MY PRESENCE.”

“wait up, paps, i'll go with you to make sure you don't get a cold reception.”

“SANS!”

You looked to Toriel and offered your arm.

“Shall we, Mister Smee?”

Toriel grinned, hooking her arm in yours.

“We shall, captain.”

\---

“Good morning everyone and welcome to this year's Extra Life stream. I'm Tom, and I've got two guests joining me for the start of the stream.”

Tom introduced you and Papyrus.

“Hello,” you said, waving.

“GOOD MORNING!” Papyrus greeted.

“Every year, people from all around the world stream video games for 24 hours in order to raise money for charity, and once again we will be doing our part to help. The link to the donation page is in the description, or you can go directly to extra-life.org/calmtom.”

Tom's expression changed.

“Alright, little buddies, that's all the serious stuff outta the way. Let's get right into it. First up, a classic--it's Sea of Thieves.”

\---

You and Frisk were spending some quality time together.

By practicing using the jetpacks in your phones.

“Why did I agree to this again!?” You shouted.

“Curiosity!” Frisk yelled back cheerfully, before boosting into a loop-de-loop with a whoop of glee.

You screamed.

It was dusk before Frisk finally decided to have mercy on you.

“Hey, I see an island coming up! We're gonna land, okay?”

“Please yes!”

Once on the ground, you immediately collapsed.

“Ground bless, much good, very solid.”

Frisk huffed from their position beside you.

“Come on, it wasn't that bad.”

You finally stopped clutching the ground and turned to them.

“Yeah, true, but some of those stunts you did, god.”

“But it was fun?”

You smiled.

“Yeah. Thanks.”

Both of you basked in the comfortable silence until the sun slipped under the horizon.

You gasped.

“What?” Frisk asked.

“Look!”

“Wow, that's so cool!”

You admired the sight.

“Hey Frisk, don't tell anyone about this spot until after the anniversary, would you? I've just found my present and I want it to be a surprise.”

“Got it!”

\---

It was the day of your anniversary.

By the time Sans and Toriel got home from work, it was late afternoon.

You were nowhere to be found.

But you had left a note.

“'Answer me these riddles three and you will find where I will be,'” Toriel murmured.

“heh, interesting,” Sans said, taking the note from Toriel. “what's the game plan then?”

“Play the game and collect our reward, of course,” Toriel replied with a grin.

“of course.”

Combining their knowledge, they solved the riddles, and were rewarded with a latitude-longitude number.

“teleport coords, huh. lemme just look it up...got it. ready, tori?”

“Ready.”

A brief moment of black, and then they were on a beach of black sand.

And there you were, waiting with a picnic.

“Perfect, right on time,” you said, putting away your phone.

“Right on time?” Toriel asked as she took a seat beside you.

“Yeah, I had Papyrus help me with the puzzles; he's gotten really good at estimating how long people will take with them.”

“yeah, he's been doing great,” Sans said, sitting on your other side. “so, dinner?”

“Not just dinner,” you countered. “Dinner and a show.”

“Where is the show then?”

You pointed out towards the sea, just as the sun slipped below the horizon.

The ocean was like glass; a perfect mirror reflecting the night sky above. 

It was like hovering amidst the stars.

“Wait for it,” you murmured, curling into their sides.

Slowly, the stars within the ocean became brighter and larger. The lights flickered, moving to an unheard rhythm.

Sans and Toriel stared in wonder at the fluther of glowing jellyfishes.

“Frisk and I found this when we practiced with our jetpacks. And I wanted to show you.”

You smiled up at them.

“Happy anniversary.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The household's Halloween costumes were pretty diverse. Reader's and Toriel's costumes were from Hook, Sans' and Papyrus' costumes were from the Tinkerbell animated movies, and Frisk's costume was Peter Pan's attire from Kingdom Hearts.
> 
> Parts that took the longest to write: choosing the first song to play, and Tom's twitch handle.


	14. Light And Shadow By Turns-- - {E}

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Double update for finale.

\---  
E05  
\---

You hugged Frisk tighter as you watched the nuclear explosion beat against the magical shields surrounding Sky Ebott.

All you could do now was wait.

\---  
E06  
\---

“SANS!” you screamed as the knife slashed his back.

“heh, sorry. looks like i'm gonna leave you in the dust,” he said, still standing over you to protect you from the attacker.

Before you could say anything, do anything, he faded into dust.

Maybe in another life you would have chosen a different path.

But in this one, you had magic.

Magic based on emotions.

And you had just watched someone you love die right in front of you.

To protect you from this person that now moved forward in an obvious motion to finish the job and kill you as well.

Your expression hardened as you took everything that you were feeling--

\--created a link with your attacker--

\--amplified the emotions--

\--and slammed them straight into your attacker's psyche.

You watched, unsurprised, as their body hit the ground.

\---  
E17  
\---

Tears streamed down your face as Asgore continued to read out the names of those who had died in the attack at the conference.

You felt so alone.

\---  
E23  
\---

You had lived a full life.

That was the thought foremost in your mind as you made your decision.

“Sans, could you take me to see the stars?”

“sure.”

His smile was strained.

You were sorry for causing him so much pain with your impending death.

_At least with this, his pain would be gone--_

He reached over and gently used his magic to gather you into his arms.

Right as he teleported you kissed his cheek.

“I love you.”

\---

Sans appeared on the star island that he and Toriel had taken to going to for their anniversaries.

He was confused.

Why were his arms in this position?

He slowly lowered his arms.

He looked around, lost, wondering why he was here.

It took him awhile to realize he was crying.

\---

_\--because you can't miss what you don't remember...right?_

\---  
E56  
\---

You breathed out...

...and didn't breathe in again.

With a soft shimmer, your soul faded into view above your body.

Everyone gathered around your deathbed seemed frozen at the sight.

Then, with a sigh more felt than heard, it slowly disintegrated.

The motes of your soul danced in the wind and the light of the setting sun.

It was beautiful, if you ignored that the sight was at the cost of someone's life.

Sans could feel Frisk's stare as he slipped out of the room.

\---  
???  
\---

_Another dead end, huh._

_Yeah._

_Looks like it's time for a Reset, then. This timeline isn't working._

_...Yeah._

_Cheer up, Frisk. We're getting closer._

_...You're right. Let's do this._

\---

“Howdy! I'm Flowey. Flowey the Flower!

“Hmmm...

“You're new to the Underground, aren'tcha?”


	15. --But Always Love - B05

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Double update for finale.

Everything was on fire.

You would be more afraid if you weren't currently in the company of someone who could control that very element.

“Just...need to-there!” Toriel said in satisfaction as the flames immediately around you both died down.

“Which way?” Toriel asked you.

You closed your eyes briefly as you searched for the distressed emotions you had felt coming from the blazing house.

“That way,” you pointed.

\---

You and Toriel watched as the crying family reunited in front of the ashen remains of their house.

\---

The light from yours and Sans' souls touching had been like being underwater and watching light play on the surface above you.

The light from yours, Sans', and Toriel's souls touching was like watching the birth of stars, scattered sunbeams dancing around the room.

To know them and have them know you--a frozen moment of time filled with love.

The love overflowed, and a new person was born.

\---

“lucida.”

“I would rather we chose a name that is indicative of all of us, Sans,” Toriel said.

You and Sans sat on either side of Toriel, focused on the child held gently in her arms.

Your child.

You were in awe.

“What about Ciel?”

Both Toriel and Sans shifted their attention to you.

“It means 'sky' in French. If we wanted to, we could spell it with an S and it would fit with your naming convention, Toriel. And there are a few fonts that have something to do with the sky, so...what do you think?” You explain.

Not put into words, but still understood, was that the sky was something monsters had always yearned for, and that was now within their reach due to their freedom--that the sky connects everyone.

Toriel and Sans look at each other--

\--And look back at you with identical smiles.

“Siel it is then.”

\---

You and Sans watched from the sidelines of the playground as Frisk and Siel played with the other children.

Toriel, who had been dragged into a game of tag, collapsed into the seat next to you with a groan.

Toriel thanked you wearily as you handed her a drink.

“you alright there, tori?”

“I am just not as young as I once was,” Toriel said.

There was a moment of silence, of the silent acknowledgment that Toriel's time was no longer frozen.

“I know what you mean, running after those two is exhausting,” you agreed with a smile.

“you sure it's not just because you're not used to the artificial gravity on this colony?” Sans said with a sly grin.

You sat up straight and narrowed your eyes playfully at Sans.

“...What are you implying?”

“why, nothing at all,” Sans said, eyelights dancing with mirth.

You slowly leaned over.

“Is that so?”

“it is,” Sans murmured as the distance closed between you.

You kissed, slowly entwining your hand with Toriel's.

\---

“What is this?” Toriel whispered, fingers trembling against the cover of the book.

Six hearts of different colors were embossed in a circle.

Six hearts for six souls.

“It took a long time and a lot of people, but we all helped look for as much information as possible on all those who fell into the Underground--their history, their lineage. Everything we found is in that book,” you explained.

“This is our gift to you.”

And as Toriel smiled through her tears, her family smiled back.

“Thank you.”

\---

You ran your wrinkled hand over the pictures in the photo album, smiling as you looked over the captured memories.

Undyne and Alphys at their wedding.

Papyrus proudly posing in front of his first escape room.

Asgore laughing beneath a heap of kids.

Dolores saying her opening statement in _Trappist-1 v. Solar System_ , the first trans-galactic case.

Shawn getting proposed to in the middle of the street.

Frisk in their official Ambassador uniform.

Siel's graduation.

You looked up and smiled gently at Toriel and Sans.

“What do you want? What would be easiest for you? What would be best for you?” You asked in response. “If you held my soul, Sans, if I helped you gain even a measure of protection and comfort, I would be happy to remain with you. But if my presence within you would only cause you pain, then I would rather pass on.”

Sans shook his head.

“that's not what i'm worried about. humans aren't meant to live for such a long time.”

He hesitated, then stared at you straight on.

“i don't want you to resent me.”

You nodded slowly.

“I can't say there's no possibility of that ever happening, since I've never been in that position, I've never lived that long. All I can say is that whatever lies beyond death, my mother would not blame me for wanting more time with those I love.”

You smiled.

“All I can offer is that if I do start to resent you, I'll immediately let you know. I won't hide it and let it fester until it eats both of us alive.”

You tilted your head.

“Or would that be 'to death'?”

Toriel and Sans laughed.

“'kay, the pun convinced me.”

“Then, my soul is yours.”

\---

_Is it time?_

“yeah.”

_It's been a long time since I've been able to interact with Toriel so freely. Sure you're not adding too many voices into your head, though?_

“I head that.”

A chuckle.

“i wouldn't know what to do with myself without you both.”

A sense of love flowed through Sans, reflecting the same emotion in Toriel's eyes.

“I believe it is time, Sans.”

Sans nodded.

“okay.”

And as Toriel's body faded to dust, all three of your souls within Sans' body had the same thought:

_Together, until the end._

\---

Our perception of the world is that time turns, moving ever forward into the future.

Once, there was a child who could bend time to their will.

Perhaps they determined this to be the 'perfect ending' and met their end with a smile on their face.

Perhaps they didn't.

What matters is that this universe did exist, still exists.

And that the emotions that lived within it were real.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Glad I kept my promise to myself to finish this, despite RL happening.
> 
> Shout-out to the game Detroit: Become Human and its amazing soundtrack for allowing me to get back into the right mindset needed in order to write the ending for this fic, specifically Kara's Main Theme. (inb4 Kara/Chara jokes lol)
> 
> Thank you to everyone who commented, left kudos, and went on this journey together with me. I was really happy with all the positivity this was met with--it meant a lot to me.
> 
> And especially, thank you to Rehlia, without whom this fic would not exist, not only because this fic is a derivative of hers, but also because without her encouragement and the excitement she showed whenever I shared my writing with her, I would not have mustered the courage to once again try to share my writing with others. Love ya, my deer. ;)


End file.
